In depth Pokémon Detective Pikachu… This has been one of better anime to real life movies
Cinematography: 8/10 (Got some great designs in there)
Storyline : 6/10 (The feels was kind of ok)
The Hype: 9/10 (Everyone remembers Pokémon is really hyped)
Overall Score from my books 7/10. Still one of the better movies from anime, much better than Dragonball, Avatar: Last Air Bender, Ghost in The Shell. Bit higher than Alita: Battle Angel. This is what I liked about the Detective Pikachu. No spoilers until mentioned.
The Storyline So Far…
It is about Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), a very average insurance in a very extraordinary world of Pokémon. He has no aspirations to be Pokémon Trainer just wants to do insurance to the chagrin of his friends. Though, gets news from Ryme City that his estranged father Harry Goodman (a Pokémon Detective) was in a fatal accident and goes there. Though, after speaking to Detective Hideo Yoshida (Ken Watanabe) and finding his father’s Pikachu (played by Ryan Reynolds who he can speak to but nobody else can hear), he teams up with Pikachu, reporter Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) & her Psyduck to out what really happened to his father.
– What I liked about this was how they integrated Pokémon into the world, especially how they interacted. It felt really realistic and plausible. You can keep eye on when Tim arrives in Ryme City how the trainers interact with their Pokémon.
– What I was bit let down was how the overall story felt rather cliché (even the big reveals). You almost predict how the story was going to pan out. They could of taken some tips from Zootopia; they did a rather good twist with the old cliché.
Cinemetography (So good it feels real)
I mentioned above, great job by the makers to really integrate Pokémon into the natural world and human society. The looked for similarities to animals and stuff that we know, to make these Pokémon real. And watching the movie you can really tell. Watching Growlithe and Policemen patrolling the streets, seeing a Machamp controlling the traffic and watching bulbasaurs in the wild, it just feels real.
There is about 56 Pokémon seen in the movie and 41 other Pokémon alluded to in the film. Try see if you can spot them: Pikachu, Mew, Mewtwo, Cubone, Snubbull, Psyduck, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Doduo, Dodrio, Rattata, Boufallant, Lickitung, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Aipom, Growlithe, Arcanine, Golurk, Rufflat, Braviary, Comfey, Pancham, Pangoro, Audino, Joltik, Octillery, Sneasel, Snorlax, Machamp, Treecko, Charizard, Togepi, Blastoise, Magikarp, Gyrados, Loudred, Emola, Greninja, Jigglypuff, Ludicolo, Mr Mime, Slaking, Ditto, Eevee, Flareon, Torterra, Morelull, Flabebe, Totodile and finally Venusaur.
I think I found them all, but let me know in the comments I you can find others I missed.
The Hype (Again It Is Pokémon We Are Talking About)
The one thing that most movie makers struggle with for anime movies is to make it real and relatable. Detective Pikachu does just that, making it real and relatable.
There have been so many other anime movies that did not make it believable or did not stay true to the manga, we as movie watchers & anime enthusiasts have been left frustrated. Though the story is not the best and people who played the video game or knows detective tropes could guess the ending quite accurately. Though, it does leave room for having a Pokémon movie. A real good one too.
What Next for The Pokémon Franchise
I have got to hand it to Legendary Pictures for finally getting it right… then we have Sonic with teeth…
Anyway, this does leave room for a sequel or even a dig into the real franchise and get Ash Ketchum into the mix. Doing something different has finally paid off if they keep it true to the Pokémon world fans are rooting for it.
Overall 7/10, verdict: great feel for Pokémon in the world. Please tweak the story and you will be there.
What’s your thoughts on the movie? Leave a comment to let me know how your feel.
The Daily Pumpernickel 