Review - Detective Pikachu

Detective Pikachu is this year's most unbelievable blockbuster. It's based on the video game Detective Pikachu, which of itself was a spin-off from the video game series Pokemon (which was originally a card game). You've probably heard of it. Anyway, that takes us here, to this feature length movie. A kid (I think called Tim) has to go to Ryme City because his dad has gone missing. While looking through his dad's apartment, he meets a Pikachu wearing a little detective hat who can also talk to him. Together, they must go solve the mystery of Tim's dad and perhaps uncover some greater conspiracy about Pokemon or something. I'll level with you, the plot is easily the worst bit of this film. Don't get me wrong, I've spent the week revising hugely seminal noir films like Chinatown and Fargo and I was not expecting anything that level from a Detective Pikachu movie. But still, the twists and turns are ludicrously stupid. I wish I'd seen this film with a bunch of mates, drunk, in a quiet screening, instead of sober in a busy Friday evening screening because this is at the perfect level of stupidity for getting blasted and laughing at everything. As it was though, I had to stifle my laughs and take the absurd punches.

Acting wise, everything is a little bit mixed here. In the (I suppose lead) role of Detective Pikachu is Ryan Reynolds. He is kind of odd if I'm honest. In the role, he is basically just a family friendly version of Deadpool; fast talking, full of quips, slightly self-referential. That isn't an awful thing, I'm someone who really likes those films, it just feels odd in a movie about a furry little creature. In the other lead role is Justice Smith, last seen in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. In that film, he was absolutely slammed for being awful and I wouldn't call him awful here. He's a touch too awkward to be an interesting and enjoyable on screen presence but he isn't actively bad. The Jurassic World parallel does interest me though because both films have horrific third act twists, although that's a different issue. As the token girl in the film is Kathryn Newton. I last saw her in Blockers, a hilarious comedy with plenty of heart, in which she was actually pretty good. Here however, she is often actually quite awful. Her opening monologue alone was making me collapse further and further into my chair from despair. She gets a bit better as the film goes on but seemingly, she is an actress who is completely dependant on a good script and Detective Pikachu does not have a good script. Rounding out the cast, unbelievably, is beloved British actor Bill Nighy. He plays a genial corporate type and it is pretty much worth having him in this film just to see Bill Nighy interacting with mystical magical Pokemon. I wasn't expecting the acting of a Michael Haneke film but it's goofy enough to kind of work I guess.

There are elements of this film that did kind of impress me though and that is the world building. It took me a little while to get past the fact that Ryme City is literally just London with some weeabo stuff scattered around though. Like, showing the Cheese Grater (I forget the actual name of it but you probably know it) is one thing, foreign audiences probably don't recognise that but multiple times, there are also shots of the Gherkin, one of the most iconic skyscrapers in London. Other than that (and the fact that one shot had an actual "Lloyds Bank" sign left in), I could largely get around it. It's a neat enough world, made into something pretty cool with the inclusion of Pokemon just walking around. Unlike the look of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie (which I maintain will be bad, regardless of character design), all the Pokemon look pretty cool. The fleshy Pokemon look a little off but fluffy Pokemon (thankfully including Pikachu) all look really cool. There wasn't a lot of stuff in this film that I was excited about but it was a really pleasant surprise that all of the actual Pokemon elements were so well realised. So well realised was it that at one point, I started to crave a similar approach for an Animal Crossing film, only with a much better script. That side isn't all good though, as there are a couple of fight scenes early in the film that look actively awful. One particular fight in a club where Diplo is just hanging out is a great example of how not to do computer animated action. Could have been much worse as a whole though, as one action sequence with moving ground underneath the characters late in the film proves.

I don't think Detective Pikachu is all that great, although there is a light at the end of that tunnel. I think the film is bad primarily because of a bad plot and that is exactly the kind of thing that makes for wonderful drunk viewings with friends. Maybe a childrens film shouldn't be such a breeding ground for that but there are at least some well animated characters to keep them happy. Not an amazing time but not the worst I've had (not even the worst this month) so I'd give it a