By Aaron Schweitzer
I’ll start by saying that I was born in 1995, so I grew up with the rise of the original Pokémon. I never continued past the original 150, but have a fondness for them even to this day. When this movie was first announced, I was a frontrunner for people who sighed in disappointment with Hollywood. In the midst of what seems like an eternity of remakes, reboots, and poorly executed adaptations, I really just did not want another one that is seeking to ride the popularity of a fad. Then they announced Ryan Reynolds as the lead and the project suddenly seemed like it might have some charm. When they released the trailer, I looked at my friend in the theater and said, “On paper, this sounds terrible, but you can guarantee I am there opening night.”
Now, here we are in the summer of 2019 and after seeing Detective Pikachuall I can think about is last year’s Venom: a movie with a really great lead and not much else going for it. Each movie has its own differences in why they are simply average movies with amazing leads and the things that do not work with each movie, but ultimately, I feel like the only thing worth remembering in this movie is Ryan Reynolds as a super cute, hilarious, amnesia-induced, Detective Pikachu. I would give you a plot synopsis, but I feel like Detective Pikachuis enough…
I’m an optimist, so let’s talk about what works with this movie. Of course, Ryan Reynolds works; he works in every way that you see in the trailer; he manages to capture an energetic (pun intended) original performance that feels fresh and inspired, not like most modern-day video game movies. Justice Smith also works really well and is actually given something to do other than simply accompany Pikachu. Psyduck also becomes a fan-favorite almost instantly! The laughs work and there are certainly more than the ones in the trailers. Finally, this movie is visually astonishing, not just in the Pokémon, but also in the world that they have created and the action sequences. I really wanted to spend more time in the world where Pokémon live with humans.
Now on to some stuff that just doesn’t quite work. Bill Nighy plays stock Bill Nighy, the Lucy character is useless, Ken Wantanabe is wasted, the secondary villain is even more useless than Lucy, and the story is just too much but also not enough. The only one of these really worth talking about is the story. Detective Pikachu tries to take a L.A. Confidential story, boil it down to reach children, but still try to be deep enough that an adult would enjoy it. I turned to my roommate right after walking out and told him, “You can take a mediocre detective story and put it in a really cool world, but that does not make a good movie.” There is plenty of useless setup and the payoff is not anywhere close to outweighing it. It tries to be too smart, too clever, and too original such that it winds up being none of those things. I wanted to have fun, and I did not even have that.
The Verdict: Ryan Reynolds gives a memorable performance in an ultimately forgettable movie with a really cool world that you wish was highlighted more. The better movie is a light-hearted comedy that focuses more in Ryme City and less about the story it is trying to tell here. Take Dredd for example. It focuses on the world, not the story and it pays off so well because of it. If you’ve never been into Pokémon, you certainly could do worse than to see this movie. If you have been excited about this movie, I assure you that you canwait until rental or Netflix or at the very least a matinee showing. No reason to rush out, but your kids will have a good time.
Grade: C-