Detective Pikachu

Detective Pikachu is a film that I had completely forgotten how much I enjoyed. Going back to it now it is actually a perfect way of bringing Pokemon into live action without just making a two hour version of the cartoon. The Pokemon themselves look fantastic. Theyve been brought to life and look ridiculously cute (not you Mr. Mime).

Then there is Pikachu, voiced by Ryan Reynolds wearing a cute little hat and basically being the worlds most adorable caffeine dependent private investigator. There is something about the combination of Detective Pikachus body, the hat and Reynolds voice that makes him ridiculously entertaining.

The story itself is surprisingly good too. Tim Goodman heads to Rhyme City after being told his dad has died, only to discover that his fathers Pikachu can actually talk to him. From there it becomes a mystery involving his dad, Mewtwo, genetically enhanced Pokemon and an evil billionaires diabolical plan.

This is where I think the film deserves credit. It starts off feeling like a detective movie then the laboratory section suddenly turns into something resembling a horror film. The altered Greninja are genuinely creepy there is some suspense and the whole sequence with the giant Torterra is fantastic. The film then finishes by going blockbuster complete with explosions, giant Pokemon and a few obvious nods to other films.

There are some things that do not quite make sense though. Like the whole plan involving Howard Cliffords body swapping technology feels like something that could have been stopped by someone simply taking off his neural headgear thing.

I also really wish they had gone further with the Pokemon world. There are references to the franchise but no Ash, no Team Rocket, no Officer Jenny and no Nurse Joy. Seeing some of those faces would have been brilliant. Instead the film deliberately creates its own corner of the Pokemon universe.

For people who grew up with Pokemon there is something special about finally seeing these characters brought into the real world. It is one of those things where you can see why a whole new generation of kids would love it while the adults are sitting there spotting all the references.

Yes Detective Pikachu is still the star. He is cute he is funny he is brave. Despite the fact that you know there is no chance they are killing the main character halfway through a film called Detective Pikachu the emotional stuff still works.

Detective Pikachu is funny heartfelt visually brilliant and probably one of the best examples of how to turn a video game property into a live action movie without completely losing what people loved about it in the first place.

It is not perfect. There are definitely a few plot holes and missed opportunities but it is a really enjoyable film.

Honestly if you are going to make a film, about Pokemon having Detective Pikachu wandering around in a detective hat is probably about as good a place to start as any.