“Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is probably the strangest blockbuster you will see all year, and definitely the strangest one aimed at a younger audience. It’s a film of contradictions. At once dark and somber, yet supremely jokey. At ease with its leisurely pace, then turns chaotic at the drop of a hat. And somehow, despite these shortcomings, “Detective Pikachu” navigates through tonal turbulence and overcomes its completely bonkers premise by laying the foundation early on for a distinct, striking world that would impress even those with little attachment or knowledge about Pokémon.
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Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) – an insurance salesman who once dreamed about being a Pokémon Trainer – discovers that his detective father has been involved in a fatal accident involving a secret government facility and a supremely rare Pokémon. He has to return to Ryme City – a massive metropolis designed by billionaire Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy) where humans and Pokémon co-exist without battles or Pokéballs- to get his father’s affairs in order. After an interaction with Lieutenant Yoshida (Ken Watanabe) and his Snubbull with the demeanor of every cinematic angry police chief ever, Tim discovers that each police detective has a Pokémon for a partner, and is quickly found by his father’s: a talking, amnesiac, caffeine-addicted Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) whose faulty memory might be the key to unlocking a greater mystery at play.
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Directed by Rob Letterman (“Goosebumps”), “Detective Pikachu” shines brightest in its first half, by planting the seeds of surprisingly emotional themes and some expert world-building (more on that in a second). All of our main characters are dealing with “settled” positions in life but yearn for more. Tim gave up his aspirations of being a Pokémon Trainer in the wake of a family tragedy. Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) is an aspiring journalist who discovers there’s more to Tim’s father’s accident than what it seems, but is an unpaid intern at Clifford’s news company writing Buzzfeed-esque articles about the “Top 10 Cutest Pokémon” (To which she exclaims, “Newsflash: they’re all cute!”). Even the fragile billionaire Clifford is losing mobility to a rare disease and is searching for the answer. It’s much like an Amblin Film in that way, where the driving force of the young protagonists is something more substantial for a kids film and doesn’t pander or condescend.
The way that Ryme City operates is not dissimilar to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” in that the interaction of humans and Pokémon in the context of normal, everyday situations is beautifully realized and mined effortlessly for humor. The 3D renders of the Pokémon are given weight, and look exactly like they do in the drawings on their trading cards, which will be sure to tickle fans. “Detective Pikachu” also avoids the pitfalls of most video game adaptations by not getting tripped up by the mechanics that drive the game or get bogged down in making sure the uninitiated get acquainted with the “lore” of it. The film doesn’t care if you know Diglet from Ditto, nor does it ask you to, either. It merely says, “Hey! Humans and Pokémon live together!” and you get it immediately.
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“Detective Pikachu” plays out like two different movies, and the first one is inherently stronger. This portion is a gumshoe mystery amidst dark, neon-lit side-streets and a sprawling cityscape, often evoking “Blade Runner.” Aiding that feeling is a beautiful score by Henry Jackman, which plays like a mixture of synthy, Vangelis-lite crossed with occasional 8-bit melodies to capture the spirit of the GameBoy games without being too overt (similar – and improving – on his scores for the “Wreck-It Ralph” films). The tech-noir aesthetic and the scaled-down, often charming buddy dynamic between Tim and Pikachu is very effective. As the mystery begins to unfold in somewhat predictable ways (remembering that this is a movie for kids and not a complete “plot is besides the point” gumshoe a la “The Long Goodbye”), the film loses a bit of steam, along with a centerpiece action sequence that’s clunky and draws attention to itself in a bad way for being standard-issue in something that had been distinguishable until that point. The climax doesn’t quite bounce it back, but does fare better, despite leaning heavily on a villain plot lifted directly from Tim Burton’s “Batman.”
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With references to the films of Robert Altman and Ridley Scott, parents might be asking at this point, “Wait, this is a kids movie, right?” Despite the occasionally somber subject matter and innuendos that will go over a lot of heads, the answer is yes. For those wondering, “Is this basically PG “Deadpool” with Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds?” Also yes. And much like the Merc with a Mouth, Reynolds’ rapid-fire one-liners are decidedly hit or miss, but he is a strong enough dramatic actor that can root all of his jokes in something human. The chemistry between Reynolds and Smith is believable, and they single-handedly get the film through its less-desirable second half and through the finish line. Newton gets in some good moments, specifically with her Pokémon partner, Psyduck (the film’s real MVP), but her and Smith’s chemistry don’t quite click, and not for lack of trying, but their scenes together almost involve pulling back another layer to the story without a second to breathe.
To say that “Detective Pikachu” has “broken” the video game curse would be hyperbolic, and to say that it’s “The Best Video Game Movie Ever Made!” would be the faintest of praise. Letterman and his team are fortunate that the popularity of “Pokémon Go” broke the shackles of having to appease fans of the video games – which then would ultimately appease no one – by realizing that just everyone wants to see a world full of Pokémon, and that just that would alone wouldn’t cut it. “Detective Pikachu” is a fun, occasionally-funny, and almost always-beautiful to look at kids adventure film that doesn’t insult the intelligence of its audience and offers them great, positive lessons that are earned. The last thing that makes “Detective Pikachu” a strange summer blockbuster: it tells a complete story and isn’t just trying to butter you up for the next entry. [B-]
