#REVIEW: “POKÉMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU”

Review by Mr. Will Wong

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is the first ever live-action adaptation for the beloved Pokémon Franchise. While it is a known fact that Video Game adaptations often don’t fare well critically, this effort from Director Rob Letterman (Goosebumps), offers something innovative which fans are long overdue.

The Film is set in a world where humans and Pokémon co-exist together. Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) comes across a talking Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) who belonged to his father, thought to be lost after he suffers a horrific car accident. Only Tim however can understand him. Together, they try to find Tim‘s father along with burgeoning reporter, Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) eager to break her first story with her Psyduck sidekick. She’s been following Tim‘s father’s trail for quite some time. They make an unsettling discovery which could harm all Pokémon and humankind.

At the heart of Detective Pikachu is a father-son storyline which hits us right in the “jellies“. The journey there is a frenetic one which while at times fast-paced, is a dazzling one where we are transported to a neon-coloured alternate world that lands neatly somewhere between Tokyo and New York City.

Pikachu is front and center and it is impossible to ignore his charms and Reynolds has fun with it. He is animated with cuddly realism and we are so tempted to grab at the screen and catch him when he falls. We had difficulty consolidating the character’s docile looks with the verboseness of Reynold‘s dialogue. Also, storylines for self-proclaimed icon Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy), a central character in the story’s unravelling, and Lucy are rather sparse. The kids, big and small, won’t be too concerned about this though amidst the rapidfire cameos from the real stars of the Movie, those adored Pokémon.

Warner Bros. Canada release POKÉMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU Friday, May 10, 2019.