Pokémon Detective Pikachu

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Pokémon Detective Pikachu wastes little to no time setting up the film’s major arc, which follows a lonely young man named Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), former-aspiring Pokémon trainer and soon-to-be amateur detective as he and his father’s Pokémon partner, the titular Detective Pikachu, attempt to solve his father’s disappearance and probable murder. Throughout their journey through a world full of Pokémon, mad-scientists and the underbelly of Ryman city, Tim and his new partner try to reconcile life without Harry. Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a film with a passionate and diverse fanbase and the film succeeds at presenting Easter-eggs and other meta-jokes to their fanbase. It also excels at appealing to those outside of the fan-universe. Filled with genuine laughs, nuanced heart, adorable digitally-created animals with big brown eyes and a minor romance subplot Pokémon Detective Pikachu is pure entertainment for those invested in the universe and those who just get pulled along to see the show.

Early on in the film, Tim receives a call notifying him of his estranged detective father’s death and involvement in a car crash. Alone, Tim travels to his father’s apartment and encounters a Pikachu who is able to converse with him not through body language, but with the actual English language. Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) reveals that he too was left behind by Tim’s father Harry and that he narrowly escaped the car crash – leaving the scene with a bad case of amnesia. Tim is resistant to the anomaly of a Pikachu whom only he can hear and understand, but they’re forced to come together when they’re attacked by overly aggressive Pokémon hopped up on purple-pixie dust called “R.” The introduction of “R” raises a moral dilemma for the Pokémon universe, where the elevated animals are treated as gladiators and fed the drug for its inhibition diminishing, performance enhancement purposes.

Now with two mysteries on their hands: Harry’s disappearance and/or death and the mass spread of “R” – Tim and Detective Pikachu team up with Lucy (Kathryn Newton), a talented underutilized junior reporter and her emotionally unstable Psyduck to get the inside scoop. The four of them quickly find themselves in way over their heads as they discover a Pokémon testing lab, a creepy-genetically enhanced Ditto and an ill billionaire’s (Bill Nighy) attempt at transferring his evil soul into the body of a Mewtwo. This is where the plot grows a bit convoluted and begins to become slightly unraveled, but the performances of the entire cast manage to keep the film together. Amidst the chaos and clamor of synthetic Pokémon drugs, consciousness-shifting creatures and an attempted murder audiences may need a little grounding. Justice Smith’s earnestness is perfect for Tim. Ryan Reynolds is often endearingly snarky. Kathryn Newton embodies the inquisitive Lucy wonderfully. Together their chemistry is more magical than the Pokéworld itself.

Yes, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is full of fun and nostalgia for kids young and old, but there’s more to it than that. Detective Pikachu also manages to explore the concept of found family, second chances, the power of tenacity and the hilarity that comes from stuffing Deadpool inside the world’s most popular Pokémon, a bright-eyed, zigzag tailed Pikachu. If you’re looking for something to bring a youngin’ to or even just a night to escape on your own, don’t knock Detective Pikachu out of the running. And, of course, just know that there’s more than meets the eye to the film’s star Pokémon.