Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Inspired by the long-running media franchise, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu follows Justice Smith’s Tim Goodman as he reluctantly teams up with a fast-talking Pokémon (Ryan Reynolds’ Pikachu) to track down his missing father. There’s ultimately little doubt that Pokémon: Detective Pikachu fares best in its affable opening stretch, as director Rob Letterman does an effective job of establishing the movie’s alternate universe and the likeable protagonist’s quest – although it’s not long, unfortunately, before Letterman and his three cowriters start to bog the narrative down with entirely uninvolving, uninteresting elements. This manifests itself predominantly in the treatment of the storyline’s central mystery and Tim’s investigation, with the almost episodic structure – Tim and Pikachu chase down a lead, inevitably find themselves in a sticky situation, chase another lead, etc, etc – paving the way for a midsection that grows less and less compelling as time progresses. And although Letterman has peppered the proceedings with a very small handful of entertaining interludes (eg Tim and Pikachu interrogate a silent Pokémon named Mr. Mime), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu‘s increasingly interminable atmosphere culminates with a larger-than-life and hopelessly tedious third act that’s about as anticlimactic as one could envision – which is too bad, certainly, given the (albeit small) potential afforded by the oddball premise.

* out of ****

1 Comment

  1. However, despite not knowing many of the characters within this vast universe, Detective Pikachu is tons of fun and filled with plenty of Easter eggs that will make Pokemon fans across the world smile but still welcoming to those, like myself that are unfamiliar with this world. Similarly to the game, the film revolves around solving a crime and a talking Pikachu. Rather than focusing on different crimes, Detective Pikachu’s sole mystery lies in the disappearance of Harry Goodman prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokemon partner, Pikachu. The result is a buddy cop film I never knew I wanted but glad it exists.

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