Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

“They try to talk to me all the time. All they hear is "Pika-Pika".”

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

From the director of "Goosebumps" and the writer from my favorite film of the year so far, "Captain Marvel," comes Ryan Reynolds in a hat!

When Tim (Justice Smith) falls into depression in a film about toy advertisement, he and his new friend, Pikachu, go to investigate the death of Tim's father to uncover what can be described as a Scooby-Doo plot.

I personally, have no attachment to Pokémon(TM) as a brand whatsoever. I've never traded a card, played a game, watched the show, not even Pokémon Go(TM). So I'm sure real Pokémon fans are upset because it appeals to me, someone who doesn't care about Pokémon(TM). This entire film is elevated by a very nonchalant performance from Ryan Reynolds. Every other element is terrible. Justice Smith, who was my favorite part in "Jurassic World" when he wouldn't stop screaming, is the protagonist of this film. He wasn't bad, however, he is just a very stiff actor. Nothing seems natural; everything feels forced. This is a buddy-cop film, so next to Ryan Reynolds who plays Pikachu, there is a huge gap in performance quality.

Every human character is also annoying, flat, and boring. Every interesting aspect is given to the Pokémon. The Pokémon are also all made to be cute and adorable to keep children engaged as well as to sell toys.

The technical aspect was also iffy as well. There were many times when a camera was out-of-focus or rack focused at a jarring moment. Eventually it went away, but especially in the beginning, it was very apparent.

This film is also very dependent on its worldwide appeal, especially in Asia. So there is lots of exposition. Mostly from characters saying what is going on or a hologram showing you then someone telling you what's happening in the hologram.

But the main character never really comes into his own. He never fully achieves his character arc, Pikachu is like Iron Man during the Battle of New York and Tim was like Hawkeye. One of them did a lot of the work.

However, if it wasn't for a great voice-acting performance from Ryan Reynolds, this would be a very tedious film. But his jokes and comedic delivery make the film really fun, at times.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan