Pokémon Detective Pikachu

Name: Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Fantasy
Released: May 10, 2019
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Alejandro De Mesa, Bern Collaco, Bernardo Santos, Bill Nighy, Chris Geere

2019

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 873 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 873 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: May 10, 2019 | PG

Starring: Alejandro De Mesa, Bern Collaco, Bernardo Santos, Bill Nighy, Chris Geere, Georgie Carter, Ikue Ootani, Iulia Filipovscaia, Jackson Kai, Jordan Long, Josette Simon, Justice Smith, Kadiff Kirwan, Karan Soni, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, Omar Chaparro, Priyanga Burford, Rita Ora, Rob Delaney, Ruth Horrocks, Ryan Reynolds, Suki Waterhouse, Zoë Scott

Summary: 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.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 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

Director: Rob Letterman

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Fantasy, Comedy, Animation, Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ben Kenigsberg

May 9, 2019

This is 1 hour and 44 minutes of Pikachu short-circuiting your brain. Read full review

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User Reviews

KuroOokami820

May 15, 2019

Great movie. The best video game movie to date. Yes if your not a Pokemon fan then it might not be as good but the CGI was amazing and the jokes were funny. It really did feel like what Pokemon would look like in the real world.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

RyGuy1

Mar 2, 2021

An amazing way to execute a live action Pokémon movie. I recommend it a lot

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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 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 andPreliminary 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

38 of 53 users found this helpful3815

DerekReide

May 19, 2019

A fun, energetic, hilarious movie packed with all sorts of great story details and amazing references (for Pokemon fans at least). I went in completely blind to the Pokemon universe, except for knowing maybe four of the characters, but I still had a really enjoyable time nevertheless. It's aA fun, energetic, hilarious movie packed with all sorts of great story details and amazing references (for Pokemon fans at least). I went in completely blind to the Pokemon universe, except for knowing maybe four of the characters, but I still had a really enjoyable time nevertheless. It's a great videogame adaptation film and it's definitely worth a watch in the theatre. My only complaint is that some of the roles were a little bit over-acted to the point where they are cheesy. But all in all, it's a great time!… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

marcmyworks

Jul 24, 2019

Detective Pikachu is actually a much better film than I would have given credit. The Pokemon world is well portrayed, as this film explores a town where Pokemon training is illegal, and the Pokemon work side-by-side with their human counterparts. I liked the message of this film, as wellDetective Pikachu is actually a much better film than I would have given credit. The Pokemon world is well portrayed, as this film explores a town where Pokemon training is illegal, and the Pokemon work side-by-side with their human counterparts. I liked the message of this film, as well Ryan Reynolds did a great job in the role of Pikachu.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Dedus

May 11, 2019

This is clearly aimed at people who grew up with the tv-show rather than the games, so keep that in mind before you watch.

Good entertainment, sure, but the more you think about it the more apparent how terrible the writing was at some points. Pacing issues, unnatural characterThis is clearly aimed at people who grew up with the tv-show rather than the games, so keep that in mind before you watch.

Good entertainment, sure, but the more you think about it the more apparent how terrible the writing was at some points. Pacing issues, unnatural character development, corny dialogue and a terrible finale plagues this movie, which for all those flaws yet still is worth a watch for any core Pokémon fan.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

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? A garbage story and trash actors with very bad CGI.

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

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