Pokémon Detective Pikachu Movie Review (2019) – Live-Action Film Adaptation
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is an American
Adventure movie released in 2019, directed
by Rob Letterman.
It accompanies a young man who can understand
his late father’s Pokémon partner, a Pikachu
who firmly believes there’s more about his
former companion’s death.
Hello, there!
I’m dos Santos, and this is Ulven Reviews,
with Movies and series from all over the world
and all eras.
Today’s review is of the 2019 movie Pokémon
Detective Pikachu.
After at least five consecutive reviews of
thriller movies, I thought it was time to
review something a little softer and fun.
After analyzing some options, Pokemon Detective
Pikachu was the perfect choice to break the
dark sequence.
But before the review, I would like to ask
you to hit the like button and subscribe to
the channel to support it and help it grow.
Also, leave a comment with suggestions and
opinions about the video and the movie.
Thanks a lot, So, here we go!
Tim Goodman (played by Justice Smith) has
to go to Ryme City sort things out after receiving
the news that his estranged father, Harry,
has died in a car accident.
Getting to the city, Tim goes to Ryme City
PD, where his father worked as a detective.
There he meets with
(played by Ken Watanabe), who says how admired
Harry was in the precinct and gives Tim the
keys to his apartment.
Before entering the apartment, Tim meets Lucy
Stevens (played by Kathryn Newton) and her
Psyduck, a blogger and inspiring reporter
at CNM who believes Harry was on to something,
and suspects his death was not an accident.
Finally, inside the apartment, Tim has some
memories of his childhood and finds a Pikachu
who he can understand and is wearing a deerstalker
cap that says he belongs to Harry Goodman.
The Pikachu also has suspicions about Harry’s
death.
So, with the advantage of communicating with
each other, Tim and Pikachu become partners
in uncovering all the mysteries surrounding
Harry’s accident and whatever he was investigating
when it happened.
The first thing we must establish clearly
is the fact that this movie was based on the
game of the same name, Pokémon Detective
Pikachu.
Not the Anime or the other games, mangas,
or anything else from the Pokémon universe.
I never played the game, but I briefly read
the plot of it on Wikipedia, and it seems
pretty much the same story of the film, at
least in its premise.
Why establishing that is important?!
Because as the first official live-action
Pokémon movie (as far as I’m aware), Detective
Pikachu generated a lot of expectations, perhaps,
misplaced ones.
Detective Pikachu is quite different than
what most people are used to regarding the
Pokémon Universe.
Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes
Back was released in 1998 in Japan and late
1999 to mid-2000 in most of the rest of the
world.
I was eight to nine in mid-2000, and this
movie felt so Epic before watching it.
I believe that was the same feeling most people
had with Pokémon Detective Pikachu, which
led to somewhat of a disappointment.
The story of Pokémon Detective Pikachu is
not the greatest, and it’s probably one of
the weakest spots in the movie.
But it’s not awful either, and slightly resembles
Zootopia.
The thematic of the movie is very different
from Zootopia, though.
Zootopia deals especially with racial issues,
while Pokémon Detective Pikachu has the relationship
between father and son in its core.
However, the thing I liked the most thematically
was the relationship between humans and Pokémon
that would be equivalent to our relationship
with animals.
In Ryme City is forbidden to explore the Pokémon,
the proposal is to coexist in harmony.
It’s like we should deal with other animals
and nature in general.
It’s a fun movie with a lot of action.
However, not reaching a level of being too
packed and convoluted, like Valerian, for
example.
The pace is reasonable and didn’t get me annoyed
(as I often get with too much action).
The humor is also satisfactory.
My favorite scene is the one with Mr. Mime,
it worked for me.
The characters are alright, the best being
the Detective Pikachu by far.
I liked Lucy as well, she’s funny, witty,
and proactive.
As for the other characters, there’s no one
else to highlight, neither positively nor
negatively.
The acting is alright as well.
I saw a lot of harsh criticism from the audience
regarding this aspect, but I didn’t think
it was that bad.
Justice Smith is not amazing, especially when
he needs to display more emotion, like when
he’s talking with Pikachu about his father.
But it’s good enough, it didn’t distract me.
The two most experienced and renowned actors
in the movie, Bill Nighy (as Howard Clifford,
owner of CNM) and Ken Watanabe are rarely
on screen, regardless of the relevance of
their roles.
Still more than Suki Waterhouse (as Ms. Norman,
a bodyguard).
Rita Ora has a good cameo.
She’s an attractive Pop Star, however, her
role (a scientist) doesn’t expose her physical
attributes or glamourize her because of her
status.
I liked that choice.
And I love her accent, by the way.
As I said, I liked Lucy as a character, and
I think Kathryn Newton’s performance fitted
perfectly for the role.
I already knew her from “Lady Bird”, “Three
Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “Supernatural”,
all four very different roles.
The only two slightly similar was in “Three
Billboards…” and “Supernatural”.
But what matters the most, she played all
with quality.
It annoys me people talking shit about her
acting in this movie, it seems their only
taking the frustration with the film in the
actors.
I’m not saying there are some Oscar-winning
performances in Pokémon Detective Pikachu,
but some criticisms I read are undeserving.
Last but most definitely not least, Ryan Reynolds
as Pikachu is outstanding.
I saw comparisons with his interpretation
of Deadpool.
But I honestly don’t remember much of Deadpool
to see if the comparison is justified.
I found Ryan Reynolds to be a charismatic
figure, even when there’s only his voice present.
Pikachu is among the best things in the film,
and that’s thanks to Ryan Reynolds’ voice
acting.
Visually, the movie is nearly perfect.
The establishing shots, in the countryside
as in the city are gorgeous and worthy of
awe.
Both did an excellent job of implementing
an immersive world.
The nocturnal lights in the city are another
visual element I loved.
The neon blue and pink are typical in sci-fi
settings, and it was beautifully used in Pokémon
Detective Pikachu.
I always wondered how the Pokémon would look
like in a live-action film.
I hated those “real Pokémon” arts we see
on the internet forever, I would hate that
route being taken.
Fortunately, they look just perfect in this
movie, except Gengar, he looks odd.
They rarely look out of place, the look of
the fur is on point, and the facial expressions,
especially Pikachu’s, are exceptional and
fundamental for us to empathize with them.
I liked Mewtwo’s little teeth as well, just
as a side note.
I would also like to mention the lab in the
beginning.
It’s polished to a level that becomes slightly
unrealistic but resembles a lot of the games
and looks just amazing.
Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I absolutely loved
this lab.
The score is okay, so let’s skip it.
I liked Pokémon Detective Pikachu, I know
it was a little underwhelming, and the fans
still deserve an epic live-action movie of
Pokémon.
Personally, I think a series would be much
more suitable, especially now that we have
things like The Mandalorian that proves a
project of this size is doable.
Let’s hope someday a project like this is
done and with the best quality possible, full
of capable talent on and off of the screen.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is not a bad movie
at all, it has its ups and downs, but in general,
it was a positive experience for me.
I’ll give Pokémon Detective Pikachu, 7 Moons.
That’s it for now.
Thanks a lot for watching.
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See you in the next video.
