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Pokémon Detective Pikachu

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53
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 48 reviews
7.5
User Score
 905 ratings

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Director: Rob Letterman
Writer: Alex Hirsch Atsuko Nishida Benji Samit Dan Hernandez Derek Connolly Haruka Utsui Junichi Masuda Ken Sugimori Nicole Perlman Rob Letterman Satoshi Tajiri Tomokazu Ohara
Production: Universal Pictures
Movie Details: The first-ever live-action Pokémon adventure begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes
The first-ever live-action Pokémon adventure begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangledThe first-ever live-action Pokémon adventure begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.… Expand
Genre(s): Action Adventure Sci-Fi Mystery Fantasy Comedy Animation Family
MPAA Rating: PG
Production: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 104 min
Home Release Date: Aug 6, 2019
Official Site: http://www.detectivepikachumovie.com/
Countries: GB US JP CA
Language: English
Director: Rob Letterman
Writer: Alex Hirsch Atsuko Nishida Benji Samit Dan Hernandez Derek Connolly Haruka Utsui Junichi Masuda Ken Sugimori Nicole Perlman Rob Letterman Satoshi Tajiri Tomokazu Ohara
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Critic Reviews
(48)
53
Metascore Mixed or average reviews
15 Positive Ratings 31%
30 Mixed Ratings 62%
3 Negative Ratings 6%
Based on 48 Critic Reviews View All
80
The Observer (UK)
Simran Hans | May 14, 2019
"The CGI critters are seamlessly integrated with the 35mm cinematography, the film stock’s grain smoothing the visual tackiness. " ... Read full review
75
New York Post
Johnny Oleksinski | May 8, 2019
"Being obvious nostalgia bait for children of the ’90s, director Rob Letterman’s film has no right to be as good or well-crafted as it is. The plot takes major twists that come as legitimate surprises, and seeing those old cartoon characters plopped into our world rendered in CGI is enormously satisfying." ... Read full review
65
Vanity Fair
Richard Lawson | May 8, 2019
"If you’re uninitiated like me, Detective Pikachu isn’t an actively unpleasant experience; Letterman gives us lots of nice and interesting things to look at, plus Bill Nighy shows up. But it’s maybe a little boring. There’s not quite enough texture for the non-followers to grab onto." ... Read full review
58
Original-Cin
Thom Ernst | May 9, 2019
"Pokemon Detective Pikachu doesn’t quite manage to create a coherent story out of its convoluted mythology, and its playful winks at the detective genre feel misplaced." ... Read full review
50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten | May 8, 2019
"The film’s plot is either too much or too little, but whatever you decide, it’s best to give up on any expectations of true logic and just go with the flow because you know what, Jake: Forget it. It’s Pokémania." ... Read full review
50
Rolling Stone
David Fear | May 7, 2019
"Pikachu Detective does not make it easy to get on board. It’s not here to convert — it’s here to preach to the already converted. You the viewer may choose this movie even if you aren’t a Pokéscholar. That doesn’t mean it’s willing to choose you." ... Read full review
20
The New York Times
Ben Kenigsberg | May 9, 2019
"This is 1 hour and 44 minutes of Pikachu short-circuiting your brain." ... Read full review
Critic Reviews
User Reviews
(260)
7.5
User Score Generally favorable reviews
665 Positive Ratings 73%
184 Mixed Ratings 20%
56 Negative Ratings 6%
Based on 905 Ratings and 260 Reviews View All
10
YakusokuNoJi
May 10, 2019
Preliminary statement: The professional reviews are very questionable. And don't listen to people who say "how can fans of the franchisePreliminary statement: The professional reviews are very questionable. And don't listen to people who say "how can fans of the franchise question critics, opinions rule". That is flawed logic. Which is quite a funny thing, by the way because now even the fans try to refer to this posting and want to call it the "worst" as if it is spreading "hate". No. It doesn't. Unfair and inappropriate criticism, off-context steming from the lack of information is a non-contribution so it is absolutely legitimate to warn from. Being misinformed is one thing but already knowing that it will influence your rating heavily is a big issue. Do the fans here not point out flaws in the movie just because they know the franchise? They do.
If you already know you give it an unfair treatment through the lack of knowledge then you are criticising inappropriately. And what is this nonsense of "please ignore the 10 reviews"? So trust the other so-called "opinions" but not the 10s, that acknowledge flaws? 10-movies have flaws. And you can integrate the lack of knowledge but less than 5 primarily because you don't know it is just not ok.
___

This movie was absolutely solid.

Is it the most logical movie of all time and does it have a super original story? No. What does, really? Still for the first real theatre-released live-action movie of the Pokémon franchise this has been absolutely fantastic. And the way the story was presented was still quite original in its own way because of how it relies on certain elements that are just not given in similiar stories most of the time.
What can I say about this movie that got me a bit on the negative side? The lore is different. They say stuff like "Pokémon don't understand what we say, they feel it" yadayada. Well, that is definitely not true - in OTHER continuities. But this is a new continuity so who cares. Same goes for some other things like "in old times people caught Pokémon" et cetera and then showing ancient drawings when the game continuity actually has NPCs saying the exact opposite: The trainer stuff is quite new and humans and Pokémon once even lived together, eating on the same table and all (yes, there are people reading NPC dialogue, unbelievable!)
Also the way they treated the strongest Pokémon made by mankind (Mewtwo) in this movie during the finale was a bit something I did not like but that is because I grew up with the first REAL Pokémon movie and the Mewtwo in the original movie (which definitely got them some of their plot details) would never have let a villain do this to "him" - but stuff from before like him being used or how he was caught was a good parallel to how he was originally made in the anime or how Giovanni tried to get him back in the second Mewtwo movie "Mewtwo returns".
What did they do fanservice-wise that I really like how they re-used the Mewtwo stuff, just as mentioned. Also how they used the instrumental version of the Western opening and actually let Ryan Reynolds sing it. I must really say - for a not even 2 hour lasting movie there was a lot happening, especially plot-wise for a movie like Pokémon, I really have no idea what those critics are babbling about because I already watched it twice and yesterday I was justb surprised how far the movie was advanced in such a short time. Is the master plan of the villain cheesy? Yes, it is. But it is supposed to bring the world of Pokémon which is a kid's show on the big screen (as said, live action, Pokémon has enough movies). I am not that fine with how they displayed the humor because it got a bit too extreme for Pokémon. The manga is very dark and aggressive and even the games use words like "kill" and "die" very late in the games, although the theme was already there from the first generation on but constantly bringing up that topic or talking about throwing up, making a drug joke or bed jokes is just a bit too much. Not that I did not find it funny or that it was such an incredible no-go, it is just something displayed a LITTLE bit to extreme for something that is primarily associated with the games and anime instead of the manga. Some Pokémon were really goodlooking, some were a bit too much with the uncanny valley effect. Pokémon like Bulbasaur for example should definitely have been remade. Pikachu, Mewtwo, Jigglypuff, Psyduck, Charizard and Gyarados were top-notch.

Overall it was very entertaining. A good start for what I hope is the first step to more Pokémon movies and children will surely love it. Old veterans/freaks like me will surely enjoy lots of the fanservice during this nostalgia trip even if it is not exactly like the other continuities. Although they already mentioned Kanto, so who know what comes next.

Since most people might be missing me saying this: Ryan Reynolds was great. I think that's a given and does not need to be mentioned. Most people like him so this does not need long paragraphs.… Expand
10
Kyurem91
May 17, 2019
Da rasponi a du mani davvero ragazzi dovete guardarlo assolutamente Cristo santo come come avete fatto a dargli una votazione così bassa
9
MBII
May 10, 2019
NOTE: The "professional" reviews are complete garbage as always. These people never heard of Pokemon outside the context of Pokemon Go.

LikeNOTE: The "professional" reviews are complete garbage as always. These people never heard of Pokemon outside the context of Pokemon Go.

Like most kids of my generation, I grew up on Pokémon. I lost interested in the franchise some time after the second generation of games/anime were released. I've come back to the series occasionally over the years when some new development piqued my interested. However, it was not until the first trailer for #DetectivePikachu dropped that my hype and love for the crazy critters returned in earnest.

I remember reading about the movie being announced some years ago and feeling quite skeptical. My primary thoughts were such: this movie probably won't end up happening and even if it does how the hell is it going to work? Pokémon have always existed solely in the realm of animation and seemed too... otherworldly and fantastical to render in a "realistic" way. Moreover, I was not really familiar with Detective Pikachu for the Nintendo 3DS, a lesser known spin-off of the main series of games, which serves as the basis of the film. The concept of a crime-solving Pikachu working with a human partner seemed goofy to me at best.

After some time had passed, I had forgotten about the movie. Maybe I assumed that my prediction of it never seeing the light of day had come true, like so many video game films announced before it. Even the game adaptations that do get released don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to quality and faithfulness to the source material. There's also the fact there are plenty of other game series that seem to lend themselves to a live-action adaptation much more than the cartoony world of Pokémon (Deus Ex, Bioshock, Metal Gear solid, to name a few).

So imagine my surprise when the first trailer for Detective Pikachu dropped. I was absolutely floored. The designs for the myriad creatures somehow managed to be accurate depictions of their animated forms while also blending it seamlessly into real world environments. Ryan Reynolds seems to play a variation of the same character in every movie (which is more or less himself), it happened to fit with this wise-talking case-cracking version of everyone's favorite electric rodent. The most exciting part is that this movie appeared to take place in a living, breathing, fully-realized Pokémon world.

As for the movie itself, it most certainly delivered on expectations. You can tell the director, writers, and actors took the time to familiarize themselves with the world they are representing. Though I haven't played the particular game that the film is based on, I read up on its plot and was pleasantly surprised at how much was used in the movie - Mewtwo's key role, the presence of the "R" chemical compound, and the main character of Tim Goodman investigating the mysterious death of his father. Speaking of Goodman, not using Ash Ketchum (of the anime series) in the film was probably the best decision the filmmakers ever made. His antics are the main reason I stopped watching the show way back when, and his never-ending quest to be the very best like no one ever was got old after a while.

The overall plot of the film is fairly standard but features some twists and turns along the way, including a very big one near the end. The atmosphere manages to feel like a genuine crime thriller/mystery at times which is surprising giving the colorful CGI creatures walking about and the general kid-oriented nature of the movie. In an interview, director Rob Letterman said the Mr. Mime interrogation scene was inspired by the classic psychological thriller Se7en. Nobody's cranium ends up inside a box but it's good to know the creative team had their heads in the right place (ahem).

As I stated before, the visual effects are absolutely phenomenal and really get their chance to shine in action sequences, including a Pokémon battle or two. Mewtwo looks freaky, as any genetic abomination should, thus making for an appropriately terrifying antagonist. To nobody's surprise, Ryan Reynolds as the titular character supplies a steady stream of jokes along with a healthy dose of heart. His human co-star, Justice Smith carries his weight as well, providing some deadpan humor and emotional depth of his own.

In conclusion, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu was just as great as I hoped it would be. It's a movie that will be appealing to general audiences who are not as familiar with Pokémon (hard to believe such people still exist) but of course will bring deeper satisfaction to long-time fans of the franchise. I exist somewhere in between those two groups, a once die-hard fan in childhood brought back into the fold with a movie that is sure to reignite the Pocket Monsters craze in the hearts of many while also jump-starting a new generation of Poké-fans into existence. With this film on track to being a financial success, I can't wait to see what other live-action Pokémon projects are in store for the future.… Expand
8
Grachechkovski
May 23, 2019
Great movie for one evening. The graphic part is brilliant - pokemons are look like real animals. This movie has a family humor, a nice detective plot
7
thegldt
Aug 7, 2019
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a movie entirely made interesting by fascinating world-building and the exceptional comedic voice acting of RyanPokémon Detective Pikachu is a movie entirely made interesting by fascinating world-building and the exceptional comedic voice acting of Ryan Reynolds, who plays a well-animated, extremely cute, and mystery-solving electric mouse.… Expand
6
BrianMcCritic
May 11, 2019
As someone who knows little about the source material I will still say it was a pretty fun movie. Ryan Reynolds is the best part as he adds soAs someone who knows little about the source material I will still say it was a pretty fun movie. Ryan Reynolds is the best part as he adds so much humor and heart to Pikachu. Overall a mid 6 a B-.… Expand
0
LifeHistory
Jun 7, 2019
is this really for real? I thought Dragon ball Evolution was bad but this is ten times worst. Whats wrong with the people who made this? Ais this really for real? I thought Dragon ball Evolution was bad but this is ten times worst. Whats wrong with the people who made this? A garbage story and trash actors with very bad CGI.… Expand
User Reviews