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Review: Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

And so, here it finally is, the highly-inevitable first live-action film of the gargantuan 20+ year old phenomenon that is Pokemon. It's a testament to the brand that I, who still remembers receiving the original Pokemon Red from my parents when I was eight years old for the holidays, now close to thirty, is still going out to see this film. The filmmakers clearly recognize this as well, because though the film is primarily directed towards younger audiences, it still contains a good portion of humour that only older audiences (such as the first generation of Pokemon fans - see what I did there...) will understand and enjoy. Additionally, the plot has a somewhat meta-aspect in that the main character, Tim (Justice Smith), is a somewhat older male who has since become disillusioned from his earlier dream of becoming a Pokemon trainer.
It still is a bit difficult to reconcile why such an obscure game like Detective Pikachu was chosen to become the first live-action Pokemon film. Perhaps it is because it has a quite self-contained story or simply because it is fairly recent and so the current Pokemon fans will know of it. The story centres on Tim who learns of the tragic death of his dad, a former detective. With the help of his dad's Pokemon partner, Pikachu, the two go on a quest to discover what happened to Tim's dad. Adding to that mystery is the fact that Tim can oddly understand and speak with the Pikachu, which does not happen with other humans and Pokemon.

Here and there the film has some entertaining moments, but the greatest enjoyment that will keep you occupied throughout is the base novelty of seeing these fantastical creatures brought to life into a live-action world. It does not take long to see past the CGI (which is good but not excellent) and accept the Pokemon as 'real' within the film world. The film, however, is by no means perfect. For anyone who has seen more than ten films, the plot (up until the end) will seem quite conventional and you will likely guess the twists and ending long before they come. Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu is likely one of the biggest draws for the film and most of the film's humour comes from Pikachu/Reynolds. Although I did find a number of jokes funny, I personally could not help picturing Deadpool every time the Pikachu spoke thanks to Reynold's distinct voice and the fact that the Pikachu's humour was oddly similar to Deadpool's self-aware and subversive kind (minus the explicit material).
The film's biggest drawback though is in not taking full advantage of the Pokemon world supposedly at its disposal; its 800+ varieties, each with its unique visual design and powers. While watching, it is seemingly quite clear that the film had a specified list of Pokemon that it could put in the film, and it becomes quite apparent after a while that many of the Pokemon seen are repeated over and over. For a world about catching and battling Pokemon, it is baffling to see that neither of these vital elements are really taken advantage of or shown off; the film mainly shows its Pokemon action through relatively unexciting chase scenes. Again, I imagine that I am not the only one who can't help but wonder how much more exciting adapting the original games' story of Ash Ketchum trying to become the greatest Pokemon trainer to the silver-screen could have been. At least there's hope as this is likely not the last we'll see of the infamous creatures on-screen. 

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