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It's not necessary to be a Pokemon enthusiast to recognize that the arrival of the feature film "The Pokemon Detective Pikachu" represents a major turning point in the Pokémon superfans cult: For those who grew up playing video games, collecting collectible cards or watching the Japanese series is the grand validation of a love at first sight for children – far from being satisfied by the 21 features drawn to date – as a "Transformers" directed by Michael Bay film or the Marvel Cinematic Universe cycle imagined what these properties represent for collectors and imagined their appearance in the real world.
Thus, although the cultural significance of "detective Pikachu" is virtually obvious, you make You have to be pretty well invested in the Pokémon franchise to appreciate the result, which looks like a half-done attempt by Legendary Pictures to capture the huge popularity of the Pokémon phenomenon without necessarily understanding or respecting the underlying intellectual property. Adapted from the video game "Detective Pikachu" – which is the only game derived from Pokémon in which the main character can speak correctly – this cascade of autonomic Pokémon outputs propels Ryan Reynolds under the name of the yellow rodent Slip & n Slide with Bing cherry cheeks and a flash tail.
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Normally, Pokémon are limited to saying their own names, which Pikachu traditionally does in a sort of derisory chatter that suggests a much more innocent personality than Reynolds provides here, relatively salty, applying a softened version of the presented wisecracking attitude. to the irreverent films of "Deadpool" – to see his action-live action interacting with a fluffy and non-talking Pokémon would have been infinitely more fun. Detective Pikachu, meanwhile, is incredibly adorable, with a photorealistic fur and a tiny Sherlock Holmes-style de-stalker hat (not so worn-out that stuck over his nose like the Japanese rabbit) and the Internet sensation of the early days. 2000s – Oolong would make the difference – pancakes on his head).
The real protagonist is not detective Pikachu, but a snarling human teen named Tim Goodman (Smith Judge, star of "The Get Down" on Netflix), who learns that his father, Harry, has gone missing – and is probably dead, no body was found – in a burning car accident. Director Rob Letterman (a veteran of DreamWorks Animation who also directed the film "Gulliver's Travels", very intensive in effects), opens the film with a glimpse of the accident, which takes place near 39, a research laboratory under surveillance and involves Mewtwo, a genetically modified version of one of the most powerful Pokémon, establishing the central mystery of the film: What happened to Harry?
But the real enigma, which emerges just as Tim enters his father's detective agency and hears Pikachu speak for the first time, is why this Pokémon can speak. And perhaps more importantly, why only Tim seems able to understand it. Anyway, if Pikachu survived the car accident (as Harry's partner, he was in the vehicle when he was thrown on a bridge), then Harry must still be there, well that something is playing in Pikachu's memory. Given that these two people can communicate, they could as well join to solve the case by calling Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton), an unremunerated intern on television pretending to be an investigative journalist.
Lucy, like everyone else in Ryme City – the bright, neon-lit city (like Tokyo, the absent Asians) where "Detective Pikachu" is taking place – has her own partner Pokemon, a nervous Yellow Psyduck that needs to stay calm at all moment. all the time, lest it trigger a dangerous explosion. Psyduck's temperament suggests a flaw in the design of the city of Ryme, designed by Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy), a self-proclaimed rich and self-proclaimed philanthropist, who believed that humans and Pokémon were designed to live in harmony. This dynamic is very different from that found in almost all other properties of Pokémon, in which human trainers train over-charged creatures and drop them into supervised battles.
Detective Pikachu, meanwhile, is more dedicated to exploring the relationship of humans with these exotic species. We learn that as a child, Tim dreamed of becoming a Pokemon coach, but he became bitter towards animals after his father moved to the big city and began spending more time with Pokémon than with Tim (who seems now constantly irritable, shouting angrily rather than talking almost all of his dialogue).
Howard Clifford, who may be the villain of the film, is a reflection of this dysfunctional family situation, although his son Roger (Chris Geere) is also a plausible candidate, because he seems in the same way irritated against a father who does not never paid enough attention. Anyway, one of these two Clifford seems to be responsible for the experiments on Mewtwo and the development of a purple toxin called "R" that makes Pokémon aggressive – part of a larger project that will certainly put in jeopardize the harmony of the city of Ryme.
As Tim and Pikachu begin their filming debut, the film strives to tell a Sam Spade-style crime novel, whose dark film roots have been broadened to give the bright, colorful look of an advertisement. from Skittles. The city of Ryme, superficially utopian, appears as one of those elaborate megacities, like Zootopia, where disparate species coexist because filmmakers say so, although "inspector Pikachu" does not invest much in construction of the world, thus leaving many unanswered questions about the dynamics actually works.
After the clues, Tim and Pikachu end up in a dark warehouse where the Pokémon battles are still unfolding and where Pikachu is drawn into a rematch with a fire-breathing Charizard – a fun scene that suggests how the live action of the movie could work better. on the old stories of collection and fight told in the caricatures. Although consistent with the game (with some obvious but obvious twists for good measure), the story of "Detective Pikachu" does not allow enough action related to Pokémon, while the quality of the Computer animation (by Moving Picture Co. and Framestore) is far from the basic skill level expected by effect films.
Neither Pikachu nor any of the other Pokémon seem to belong to real action environments. On the contrary, they seem to have been superimposed – a miscalculation of several factors, ranging from lightening inconsistencies to unconvincing CG textures to the lack of care given to their virtual performances. What we can understand about Pikachu's personality comes from Reynolds's sardonic readings, although most of the time, the yellow-haired creature we see on the screen does not feel like she's feeling what she's saying.
Ultimately, if the "detective Pikachu" must demonstrate that every human being is destined to associate with a single Pokémon – a kind of spirit-animal monogamy that contradicts the attitude of "I have to catch them all "that existed before – so at least Tim and Pikachu should have some kind of chemistry. But Smith (who is usually stressed and stressed) is not as affable as Ash Ketchum was in cartoons, and the final revelation of the film confuses the kind of relationship he is supposed to have with Pikachu.
Will their partnership continue? On the contrary, the blessing of "Inspector Pikachu" is that he is not canon. Its box office should show fans' appetite for a more robust version of the Pokémon universe on the big screen, while the disappointment should not deter another team from doing the same.
Movie Review: Ryan Reynolds in 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu & # 39;
Reviewed at the Time Warner Center, New York, on April 29, 2019. Evaluation of the MPAA: PG. Duration: 104 MIN.
Production:
A Warner Bros. Pictures (in the United States), Toho Co. Ltd. (in Japan), legendary release of East (in China), Warner Bros. Pictures, presentation of Legendary Pictures, a production of Legendary Pictures, in association with Toho Co Producers: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Hidenaga Katakami, Don McGowan. Executive Producers: Joe Caracciolo Jr., Ali Mendes, Tsunekazu Ishihara, Kenji Okubo, Toshio Miyahara, Hiro Matsuoka, Koji Ueda.
Crew:
Director: Rob Letterman. Scenario: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly; history: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perlman, from the video game "Detective Pikachu" developed by Creatures Inc. Camera (color, widescreen): John Mathieson. Editors: Mark Sanger, James Thomas. Music: Henry Jackman.
With:
Ryan Reynolds, Smith J., Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Rita Ora, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy.
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