Detective Pikachu: The Mystery of the Miracle Script

The Pokémon franchise maintains a unique position in world culture. It’s a multi-media property comprised of multiple manga series, multiple anime shows with multiple spin-off films apiece, and multiple gaming institutions. It has a special place in the hearts of gamers who still enjoy its formulaic but whimsical mechanics as well as in the minds of gen-Xers and millennials who grew up with the landmark anime. And in this era of 90s’ awareness, a live-action adaptation was a logical extension. However, video game movies have a history of failure at the box-office, in part because it’s a backwards medium transfer. Video games are much more immersive by nature due to the inherent virtues of simulation and audience interaction, so making a successful movie out of them has proven difficult for studios because they’re removing layers of immersion as opposed to adding them. To date, the most financially viable video game so far was last year’s ‘Rampage,’ and that really only worked because the game it was based on was older than most of its audience. And also the Rock.

So to make a movie based on a video game franchise as beloved as Pokémon was always going to be a huge challenge, but at the same time the simplistic gameplay and universal appeal meant that if ANY property could pull this off, it would be Pokémon. Legendary Studios decided that the best approach was not to do a direct adaptation of any of the central series games, but rather a spin-off game, one that many had considered something of a joke when it came out. Thus, ‘Detective Pikachu’ landed in theaters as the first live-action Pokémon movie. And I’ll be damned if they don’t get away with it.

The most obvious challenge for ‘Detective Pikachu’ was crafting a story that could possibly contain such a ludicrous premise. And to be fair, it only succeeds by ignoring its own weak narrative which focuses on Tim (Justice Smith), a young man in the Pokémon universe who has long since abandoned his dreams of being a travelling Pokémon trainer and is outright hostile towards the “pocket monsters.” After his detective father goes missing and is assumed dead, Tim has to journey to Rime City, where Pokémon and humans live together in perfect harmony. There, he finds his father’s apartment being infiltrated by a peculiar Pokémon called a Pikachu (the defacto mascot of the franchise voiced by Ryan Reynolds), who, unlike other Pokémon, can perfectly communicate with Tim but, for some reason, Tim alone. Together, they begin an awkward friendship as they return to Tim’s father’s last case and start to unravel the conspiracy surrounding his mysterious death. Along the way they encounter the ambitious news intern Lucy (Katheryn Newton) and her companion Psyduck, the grim but empathetic Lt. Yoshida (Ken Watanabe) and his pet Snubbull, and the wheelchair-bound founder of the city Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy).

The real strength of the film is surprisingly in its performances. Smith’s biggest role to date was as the whiney but forgettable screaming dude from ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ but here breathes genuine life into a mature but sensitive human character. Despite some of Tim’s whiplash personality moments, not a single frame featuring him feels fake or phoned in, an even more impressive feat considering that most of his scenes are shot opposite a CGI character. Newton as well is a shocking breath of fresh air, though her performance is based more on her high energy and screen presence. She and Smith share a fascinating chemistry that never reaches too far but serves as a constant reminder that their relationship is ever-evolving. Reynolds as well deserves recognition for his stellar voice work, which threatened to devolve into his ADR performance for the ‘Deadpool’ movies but is handled with an endearing nuance and vulnerability that elevates the film to a near artistic height. Together, these three more or less make the movie.

The only real failing in the film’s actors is Bill Nighy, who could not possibly look more bored. However, given that Nighy has given better performances in lower-brow work and director Rob Letterman doesn’t have a stellar track record or even a lot of experience directing live actors, I feel this is a result of poor direction more than anything else. Which is surprising as the rest of the direction is pretty excellent. The action scenes are shot with limited cuts, allowing for every beat to be seen in full, and the overall cinematography and lighting captures the maximum emotional weight in every scene.

Where Nighy fails, the animation succeeds. Turning the simple, pixelized sprites from the game and 2-D drawings from the anime and manga into fully-realized 3-D renders was always going to be difficult if for no other reasons than because none of them were designed or approved with that potential in mind. However, all the Pokémon in the film look amazing, ranging from massive, continental Torterras to the humanoid, uncanny Mr. Mimes, to Pikachu himself, who has never looked more adorable. In terms of interaction with the live actors, the animation is on par with ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and surpasses most of the other movies that try such a feat by a wide margin. For people who grew up with Pokémon in the backdrop of their lives, this as true an incarnation of the beloved elemental monsters as they’re likely to get in their lifetimes.

The biggest flaws in the film lie in its pacing. While the first act unfolds in lateral fashion, the story begins to zig-zag starting when Pikachu is introduced. Characters flick back and forth between personalities and plotlines at the film’s whim and major revelations are brushed away with little regard to the massive implications they could have on the plot. This kind of inconsistency is counterproductive to building a conducive atmosphere and can even jar you out of the experience in certain cases. At one point, a character asks if genetic manipulation of Pokémon, a major plot point, is even possible and the question is ignored almost as soon as it’s raised.

Still, ‘Detective Pikachu’ is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Older audiences who are turned off by its formulaic plot and easy mystery will still be enthralled by the prospect of its amazing animation and nostalgia value while younger audiences will no doubt lap up the simplistic narrative, colorful imagery, and overall child-friendly nature of the film. I don’t know if it’s a solid enough basis for Legendary to build a proper film franchise on, but it’s a hell of a good start if that’s the direction they decide to take with it. If you’re on the fence about seeing it, just consider that it’s an hour and a half of Ryan Reynolds bantering in the body of an adorable, yellow mouse that can shoot electricity from its cheeks. If even a fraction of that sentence piqued your interest, you’ll find something in this movie worth your while. Or maybe just re-download Pokémon Go for a couple weeks and that’ll satisfy your fix. 3/5.

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