How Hollywood did not screw up Detective Pikachu movie

It looks like a miracle. In general, the adaptations of the Hollywood video game have been mediocre. But the Pikachu, detective of Pokemon is the exception to the rule. The film is good.

"Have you been afraid of adapting Pokémon? "I asked director Rob Letterman at the end of last month in Tokyo." I still do it! I'm very nervous, "Letterman told me. "Are you kidding me? I do not want to disappoint. This is a hardcore fan base."

One of the most important difficulties in adapting games is the close relationship players have with the characters and worlds they inhabit. Much of what makes Pikachu, detective of Pokemon the job is that it's Pokémon, but not the main series or the anime.

"There was pressure, but I felt like that because we were playing characters that were not pre-established. I know that Tim Goodman is part of the Detective Pikachu game, but it's not like Ash Ketchum, "said Judge Smith. Kotaku. "So, you feel a little free to create your own person inside this universe. So, I felt that I had more freedom than if I played against someone everyone knew.

The decision not to create a cinematic version of an iconic game like Red Blue or adapt the anime was created by Legendary Pictures and The Pokémon Company before hiring Letterman. "I am pleased that this decision was made," said the director, who previously headed the Goose bumps movie. According to Letterman, it was the choice to make a Detective Pikachu movie that made him addicted. "It's human history, emotional history," he says. "You can see this trip that the character Tim Goodwin is going through really translates into a movie."

Adaptation of the spin-offs has given filmmakers and actors a base to pay more attention to the development of the world. Pokémon and making it feel good. Often, with the adaptations of video games, one has the impression that the filmmakers go out and do their own thing, much to the surprise of the fans and even the creators of the original game.

"We have worked closely with The Pokémon Company, the original designers and designers," said Letterman. All concepts were sent to Ken Sugimori, who drew the original Pokemon and still supervises the Artistic Director. "We had notes, comments – I mean very detailed notes [from Sugimori]. We collaborated directly with them on this film, "said Letterman," because we want to do things right. "

They did not receive only notes. The Pokémon company hired a Pokémon expert who took part in the shooting. "Every day of the shoot, there was a Pokemon expert," said Kathryn Newton, who plays Lucy in the film. "Every day, make sure we are not mistaken."

How mess? I asked.

"Once I called Bulbasaur" he "in a scene and he [the Pokémon expert] says, "In fact, you can not call him an" he. "He's" that. "Psyduck is a he, so there are these very specific things that we hold dear, and we hoped that the Pokémon experts and just the fans [care, too]. "

It was not just the gender pronouns they were trying to get. In several scenes, the character of Newton carries his Psyduck in a backpack and a real Psyduck weighs about fifteen pounds. "Well!" Said Newton. "And they actually weighed in … it was very heavy when I was doing my stunts when we were crossing the Highlands of Scotland. It was not a joke! Psyduck is not light.

It is not only the Pokémon company that works closely with production. The generation that grew up with Pokémon is maturing in Hollywood. Just as comics started to get really good once the people who cared about them started making movies, so do video games.

"I had all the original cards and I played them with my sister and we set our own rules because we were too lazy to read them," says Judge Smith. "But I also had Pokémon Gold, my first game for Game Boy Color. I watched the anime. I grew up as a big fan of Pokémon. Moments later, Smith pulled out a teddy bear. It's his favorite, but Gengar and Snorlax were very close.

"I did not realize it, but the millennials in their twenties and early thirties grew up with that," Letterman said. "They are very proud of Pokémon and take great care of it. They really want everything to be done right. "

Every day on the set, it was not just the Pokémon company's expert who hoped that the filmmakers would realize things, but also the actors and the team. "If you're not a fan, I think the film is for you too," said Newton. "But Pokemon fans in general, we've done it for you."