Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) - Review
The story follows Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), a man who's cut himself off from the world of Pokémon (small adorable creatures who roam the planet, waiting to be caught in a ball and partnered-with) until he is sent to Rhyme City in the wake of his distant father's untimely death. Rhyme City is the creation of Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy), who desires to maintain harmony between humans and Pokémon, but as Tim arrives, a mystery begins to unfold, and he must ally himself with Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) in order to solve it and get to the bottom of the case...
What transpires initially seems to be a blend of buddy-cop comedy and noir detective thriller in a city of Pokémon, and this aspect of the film works quite well. Reynolds' dry delivery is often very humorous, but maintains the noir feel of the film, whilst Justice Smith plays his very unwilling partner. There's an interesting contrast between the dark, mysterious city and the bright vibrant Pokémon that works very well - enhanced by great cinematography, as well as the decision to shoot it all on 35mm film. The mystery is very intriguing, and whilst I wasn't expecting something hugely outside the box, I found the latter half of the film considerably disappointing.
'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' quickly descends into more generic tropes, with a creepy science lab and a big villain reveal that doesn't quite work. When the big third act kicks into gear, I was a little confused as to what the stakes were, and the ending itself is frankly bizarre. Across it's 144 minute run-time, I couldn't really work out what 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' was about, and the ending really didn't help matters - feeling contrived, clichéd and not particularly satisfactory. The film throws in a number of set-piece moments that don't really go anywhere, making the film feel both too long and too short (the first act feels particularly clunky with some bizarre structural and editing decisions). I can understand the argument that the film is more about exploring the world than the actual story itself, but the world feels oddly underdeveloped, and main character Tim's back-story seems to be missing some crucial elements. The world isn't firmly established in the first place, and despite a massive bout of exposition earlier in the film, at no point does the film clarify the difference between "catching" a Pokémon and "partnering" with a Pokémon.
The film looks very good for the most part, but there's some occasionally choppy editing and quite often the exact geography of scenes is very confusing. Director Rob Letterman has clearly made some strong visual choices, but doesn't do anything too bold with the film. The visual effects work is strong, but the film never pushes itself too far with regards to its action. I was expecting more inventive action with the various Pokémon, but Letterman never really displays this. Often the Pokémon themselves are relegated to fun cameos for fans or cute and cuddly creatures for the audience to go "awwww" at. Allowing Pikachu to actually communicate with Tim seems like a strong foundation for an interesting story about the two species co-existing, but when the reason for their communication is ultimately revealed, it cheapens their dynamic somewhat.
I also can't help but feel that the acting across the board is very mixed. Whilst Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds play it straight (albeit not without a touch of humour), a lot of the performances feel a bit too hammy and awkward, as though the actors aren't hugely invested in the story. Bill Nighy wades through huge amounts of technobabble and exposition, and seems a bit fed up with it all. He's not bad, but doesn't feel hugely invested. Kathryn Newton is quite fun as a reporter investigating the case, but a lot of her dialogue feels oddly stilted, as though the film is trying to play on the noir tropes without going too far. The unique genre blend is mostly forgotten about by the end, making the film feel a bit by-the-numbers. Thankfully, there's no sequel set-up, but I still don't feel particularly encouraged to return to this world again. 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' could produce a more bold and interesting sequel, but it could've also been a more bold and interesting standalone film.
I'm sure many people will really enjoy 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' (including its bizarre lack of punctuation), and I think there's more to appreciate in the film for fans of the franchise, but as a film in itself I found it to be perfectly serviceable, but nothing too exciting. All that being said, I think all the kids in the cinema really enjoyed it. 6/10
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