Pokémon Detective Pikachu.

Review #1219: Pokémon Detective Pikachu.

Cast: 
Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Justice Smith (Tim Goodman), Kathryn Newton (Lucy Stevens), Bill Nighy (Howard Clifford), Ken Watanabe (Detective Hideo Yoshida), Chris Geere (Roger Clifford), Suki Waterhouse (Ms. Norman), Omar Chaparro (Sebastian), Rita Ora (Dr. Ann Laurent), and Karan Soni (Jack) Directed by Rob Letterman (#164 - Shark Tale)

Review:
I suppose it had to happen sometime. This is based off the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori alongside the spin-off game Detective Pikachu developed by Creatures Inc. This isn't the first film based on the video game property, with Pokémon: The First Movie being released in 1998; since then, there has been 21 animated films released (all released in Japan with release in America later - with only the first five given theatrical release for the latter). In any case, it is easy to say that this is a very average movie, racked with plenty of visual enjoyment and a few laughs headlined by a solid lead voice and facial motion capture performance from Reynolds. It proves to be a light charmer that doesn't waste its 104 minutes on being anything other than just fine for the kids and ones big on seeing certain Pokémon (a property I'm not overly familiar with). In a sense, it does feel a bit like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), albeit instead of animation it is big furry creatures. The look of the film (from cinematographer John Mathieson) is fairly nice, helping to make the main city setting look bright enough where the neon and other things don't become too flashy for the sake of it. They certainly nailed the look of these Pokémon creatures when it comes to finding that right type of balance where the photo-realistic nature doesn't look too weird, seeming fairly natural for where the film wants to go, where the distraction involves wondering what you may see in the background instead of being weirded out by the designs made. It probably isn't a surprise that there were four writers involved with the screenplay (Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Letterman, and Derek Connolly) and three with the story (Hernandez, Samit, and Nicole Perlman), since the film seems to try to aim to make a detective story with tinges of comedy and action, making a fairly decent effort to hold itself together with decent intrigue and climax, even if its human characters seem a bit lacking. It seems more of a weird film than one with some depth to it, I guess. Reynolds is the star of the show, being the best of the bunch of the cast, sarcastic and yet still endearing to be around with. Smith is okay, playing off with Reynolds decently when needed. Newton is quirky but amusing that plays off fine on occasion. Nighy and Watanabe prove okay in their respective times on screen. On the whole, while I wish the film was a bit more ambitious with where it wanted to go, this proves to be a light silly charmer that will play well with those who seek out cuddly creatures with powers and some detective work. I wouldn't be against making another one of these, if only to see where it could go from there, I suppose.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.