Pokémon movie number whatever has just come out and the good news is it doesn’t suck.
I did have some expectations for this movie as surprisingly, I do have some history with Pokémon. I watched Pokémon: The First Movie a fair amount when I was a kid and I’m quite familiar with the original 151 and that’s pretty much all of the Pokémon that is featured in this movie.
In this new Live-Action Pokémon universe they don’t really focus on that ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ aspect and that is a good thing. The majority of the film takes place in this Zootopia like city where humans and Pokémon live together in harmony. I do like the approach the writers went with here. My main problem with Pokémon as a franchise is I never know where to begin because it’s all a continuing story and there’s endless, endless spin-offs. This movie is completely standalone, they explain the basics and it’s very welcoming to newcomers.
In theory it’s a good idea to have The Pokémon universe as set dressing for a personal mystery story, but it does create some problems, which I will get to in a bit. The main kid’s dad has recently disappeared. The kid goes to where his father worked to find out what happened and here he finds his Pikachu. The kids understands Pikachu and this amazes them both. Since Pikachu is also a world class detective, they decide to work together to find his missing dad. From here it’s quite an intriguing mystery for the most part and a fun adventure also.
The story is probably the weakest part of the movie. I don’t mind the characters and the performances aren’t that bad. The interactions between the main guy and Pikachu are good. It’s just the story that holds it back for me. This is a mystery movie and I did find it compelling, but it was a case of I had pretty much figured out the mystery 30 minutes before the characters did. It doesn’t really help that the opening scene gives away so many clues, it should have been cut. Also, some of the choices made and the revelations in the third act I found really stupid.
I think the main appeal of the movie is probably this Pokémon filled city and of course the Pokémon themselves. The best part of the movie is the impressive visual style of the city. It’s very atmospheric. The CG Pokémon look pretty cool. They stuck with their original Anime designs so characters like Jigglypuff, Bulbasaur and Psyduck look really cute. While Charizard, Gyarados and Mewtwo look pretty awesome. Pikachu obviously looks the best. It’s amazing as the Pikachu’s design is just perfect. (Now all Pikachu needs to do is teach another well loved character to look like his game counterpart.)
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is fun. It’s a great adventure with alright characters trapped in a much more developed world. I bet if I was younger I would probably like it even more. I’m going with a 7/10. It’s fun for the whole family and if what I said interests you then check it out.
That’s it from me so if you enjoyed then let me know by liking the post and spreading the word. I’ll be back with more movie reviews and until then I have been the Blog Complainer, Signing Out.
The Blog Complainer 