Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

NOSTALGIA TRIP WITH REYNOLDS AS THE SAVIOR

If it wasn’t because of the success of Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds where its swears, kills and makes a lot of inappropriate jokes. He knows now how to manage the Deadpool-esque persona to achieve a fun and tasteful performance.  Ryan Reynolds latest career wouldn’t be that successful if it wasn’t for Marvel’s Deadpool and you can almost tell that it’s like Pikachu has a similar persona. This is a movie for every man child out there who wants to go back to the world of Pokémon.  To relive the essence of playing and talking with Pokémon. A game that has survived for a long time and now has arrived at the big screen as a live-action version.

To achieve a realistic tone and homage to the classic characters, the production has made the choice of making really CGI-heavy. Sometimes these creatures feel off in how the actors react to them. The minor characters feel less important. They have a crucial role, yet the main interest in this movie is Reynolds as Pikachu as we know he can twist and turn his character to make them his own. The CGI on Pikachu is one of the best efforts this movie has as it tries to go for a realistic tone and approach in terms of design and character development. Instead of having a character with a few words and an electric tail, the Pokémon feels for the first time realistic and gives me a nostalgic trip.

I love that they try to make detail and distinctive characters of these Pokémon, just as they were in the films and TV-Series. They have a special ability to achieve as it’s required from them. The nostalgic feeling makes these creatures also more believable to a certain extent.  Justice Smith, who plays the main lead named Tim, feels natural in his way of interacting to a CGI-made Pikachu. He’s good but not that great. He works well in the background with Reynolds leading every scene.

Although I love Bill Nighy on how he portrays his characters, often villains, but in this movie, he feels rather pale and boring. There isn’t really a true villain to him. He blames it unconditionally on his son, which make no sense in terms of how he’s portraying this character.  The true character of his portrayal is never revealed to make a great villain. His performance is shuffled away with a failed and easy third act that makes you not appreciate almost everything before it. The design of the Mewtwo doesn’t feel authentic enough. Something is clearly wrong with the CGI-model and it feels just wrong when he’s just put in Ryme City.

This is a movie for every Ryan Reynolds and Pokémons fans, you’ll get a fun ride with a detective story and a lot of jokes and emotions. But if you’re not, then this is a movie about actors interacting with CGI characters with a decent plot about family secrets.