Pokémon Detective Pikachu

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I’m going to write it straight away: I didn’t enjoy Pokémon Detective Pikachu as much as I wanted to. In some ways, it disappointed me. Now, you’re probably thinking “oh, he’s one of those people who never saw or played Pokémon in his life, and now he’s going to destroy the film because he never understood it”. Not even close. There are always three groups of people when it comes to these famous franchises that have massive fandoms: the hardcore fans who follow the respective saga since it was created and never once stopped supporting it; the fans who like or even love it, but either skipped or gave up at a certain point in time; the non-fans who never really got into it and don’t relate to any of what the previous two groups do.

I belong to the second group. I’m a fan of Pokémon, but since the end of the last decade that I stopped playing its video games and watching any series or movies about it. Nevertheless, I’m always as fair and impartial as possible to films and to the people who gave their all to deliver a great story. For hardcore fans, this movie might have everything you’ve ever wished for. Even I was able to understand that some scenes are filled (and I mean literally the whole screen) with references and Easter Eggs that the most dedicated fans will absolutely love. These moments alone can make you enjoy this film way more than fans like me.

However, we all know that while these sequences look fantastic and offer a lot of excitement, they are not enough to hold a narrative together or make it captivating. The Pokémons are gorgeous, and I found myself constantly in awe! Live-action will always have that crowd of haters that think the animated versions should stay animated, no matter what. There will always be people hating on these type of movies solely by the fact that they’re live-action. Honestly, I try very hard, but I can’t understand how people find an incredibly realis...

The core story is just... So dumb. And the dialogue between genuinely any two characters that doesn't involve the titular Pikachu made me real uncomfortable.

But I adore the world that holds it up. Watching Detective Pikachu was like drinking hot chocolate by the campfire in winter. Even my roommate who had to be dragged to the thing kicking and screaming ended up having a wholesome good time.

Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.

The movie did not have the best story, it was very much like the original Pokemon the Movie where Ash dies, in the hands of Mewtwo, just switched up a little. The animation and visual affects were really well done. There were some funny parts, although a lot of it seemed really dry.

Having never played the "Detective Pikachu" game, I can't attest as to the film's faithfulness to the source material. As a movie on its own merits and with a passing knowledge of Pokemon, I found that I enjoyed this more than I thought I would going in. It has a decent narrative structure (although the villain reveal is a little out-of-left-field; they probably could have used a little more buildup) and likable if somewhat cookie -cutter characters. But, WOW, is the tone inconsistent! Most of the movie gets surprisingly serious and dark early on, and for parts of the film Ryan Reynolds feels more like comic relief. Expect emotional whiplash from this one. Still, it's a fair movie that at least fans of Pokemon will likely enjoy.

I had no hope for this...

It made me a believer.

Live action cgi based Pokemon CAN happen and CAN deliver.

Perfect cast. Mr. Mime freaks me out. Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu just was the best casting decision ever.

A decent kids' movie, but my lack of Pokémon fandom probably kept me from appreciating the film more than I did.

I heard good things about this movie for years but never sat down to watch it until my three-year-old started saying "Pikachu" when she saw him in an ad. So we gave it a shot, and she really liked all the little creatures and noises. I enjoyed the movie fine, but after watching the Sonic movies recently, I had high expectations that expected. Justice Smith did a great job interacting with the CG characters, and Ryan Reynolds' voice acting was as fantastic as I expected. Detective Pikachu wasn't bad, but I kept feeling like I needed to be more of a Pokémon fan to enjoy the movie more. The whole climax and reveal of the evil plot to merge people with Pokémon was kind of lame to me, so this movie fell short of Sonic or Puss in Boots or Minions. I didn't mind it, and I'm sure I will end up watching it more times than I wanted, but there are other kids' movies I enjoyed more.