Given how much buzz there was about Pokemon Detective Pikachu around the time it came out, the fact that it is essentially never spoken about now outside of Pokemon TCG players is frankly bizarre. I'm not super up to date on the Pokemon games, having dropped off after the Red/Blue era and only played a little of a couple of others, but one of the strongest elements of the franchise is the depth and richness of the setting, even if it doesn't always hold up to close scrutiny. As someone who is not a super fan of Pokemon, the best part of Detective Pikachu is still how it makes a real world populated by real people and plenty of pokemon running around doing their thing. To my recollection, none of my favorite "team of six" pokemon are even in the film (Venusaur, Beedrill, Fearow, Nidoking, Raihcu, Cloister), but I get a little thrill seeing some of what's there. I love the little Joltics scampering around on electrical equipment and the Bulbasaur sequence was enough to even get my mother to sit and watch a bit as she passed through the room. I'd prefer if Mewtwo was less... fleshy? But he still looks pretty great in the action sequences.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, Detective Pikachu is a sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back, that's some Unbreakable/Split level callback right there. Sure, the only character that crosses over is Mewtwo, but that's the upside of a cinematic universe, not every character needs to be in every film for it all to be linked; sadly this means Ash is out there somewhere, but maybe we'll get lucky and see Jessie and James in the future? The ending of Detective Pikachu leaves a bit to be desired, with the wrap-up being overly convenient and the lack of a decent pokemon battle disappointing. Even when watching it in the cinema, I kind of assumed that the human/pokemon that our protagonists had met along the way would team up to take on Mewtwo, but it never happened for some reason? Seems like a missed opportunity. I know that too much violence would boots up the rating, but what's Pokemon without the battling? Hopefully any other films in the series will remedy that somewhat. At it's core though, Detective Pikachu is a buddy cop comedy/coming of age film, and on that score, it really delivers.
Plenty of films have done the "interrogate the mime" scene, but I don't recall any having done it quite as well as Detective Pikachu, putting a shockingly dark twist on it for a family film. Ryan Reynolds may actually be a comic genius, as there seems to be no one he can't bounce a scene or joke off, not that Justice Smith is any slouch either, doing great straight man work and still making his presence known, not an easy task. Hell, Bill Nighy is in this film and he's, at best, the third most interesting actor, what a cast! I was really hoping that Detective Pikachu would smash some records, not just because I enjoyed it, but because I want to see more films in the Pokemon universe. There is so much richness and variety to be had in the setting that to not use it seems like a waste of great IP, even outside of the game narratives, which can be a little obtuse at times. Seriously, if you're not a fan, look up the Uknowns sometime, strange stuff. Even with the weirdest stuff put aside, however, there is a world of stories to be had in the Pokemon world, and hopefully we'll get to see some more before too long.
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