Did anyone else think that Detective Pikachu might have been a bad idea? Honestly it seems as though there are a lot of fence-sitters or those that just don’t care since this movie might have done well enough to be mentioned but it still seems like something that went a little too dark for Pokemon and yet somehow remained too innocent to be deemed as that hardcore. It’s kind of a confusing morass of CGI and live action that was destined to be headed for Honest Trailers or possibly CinemaSins. One could almost think that diehard Pokemon fans would love it, but some folks actually didn’t seem to care for the movie all that much given that its reviews were kind of spotty now and again. Plus, there hasn’t been a huge uproar about it as there was when Pokemon started hitting the big screen as an animated feature. Anyone remember that? Kids went nuts over that, and so did some adults. It’s odd to think that people actually debated with each other over the Pokemon movies and would be seen to go ape over one card or another when playing the game.
Johnnie JungleGuts from The Wrap makes a good point that video games and cartoons don’t always translate that well to the big screen, and while it is and isn’t true this time it almost feels as though it’s a matter of degrees that make the difference. This movie was no doubt great for some people but for others it was kind of a mess really, with Ryan Reynolds playing a live action part and the voice of Pikachu and a few other things that seemed a little, off. The whole idea of Pokemon has been something that for years has drawn people in without fail as the games, the show, the movies, and everything that goes with it has been allowed to expand in a way that has been pretty impressive. This movie however was kind of, meh, but in all honesty it’s hard to gauge the average reaction of the fans that enjoyed it and those that didn’t. This is the kind of moment when it seems to be safer to say ‘to each their own’.
At times you’ve got to wonder why Ryan Reynolds attaches himself to some projects even despite the fact that he’s bound to be funny and/or engaging no matter what character he’s playing. He’s definitely made a few mistakes with some of the roles that he’s taken on, but as of late he’s been fairly successful with several roles as he’s been seen to capture the imagination and hold it tightly as a lot of people have followed him. This isn’t exactly Deadpool level but it’s still something that’s fairly funny, even if you have to put up with him playing the part of a small, fuzzy creature that can produce a lightning strike powerful enough to lay just about anyone low. The fact that Pikachu has been made into a detective is kind of interesting but at the same time it’s still kind of odd and awkward since it takes Pokemon to a different level that some people think is great and others either don’t care about or find kind of freaky.
Petrana Radulovic and Matt Patches of Polygon makes a good point that a lot of people don’t really think about since Detective Pikachu was a game that some folks knew about and others didn’t. The fact that so few people knew about this game is very likely the reason that it wasn’t fully understood when this movie was first announced, since I can remember a good number of people that were struggling with their own confusion when the title was announced. Pikachu as a detective was something that a lot of people just couldn’t see and didn’t seem to want to contemplate since it seemed kind of silly. But all in all it seems to have worked well enough that people have responded in a good way and have embraced this movie easily enough to continue the popularity of Pokemon throughout the world. The fact that this has been one of the largest franchises in the world is simply amazing and to be honest is something that you can’t help but be impressed by.
Detective Pikachu is an interesting concept and one that seems to work but all in all the darkness of this movie is something that wasn’t entirely expected. When it comes to Honest Trailers and the like you can expect that they’re going to be brutal and over the top quite often since that’s their job and it gets a good number of laughs. It also answers a good number of questions that people might have since there are almost always bound to be some queries that the movie itself doesn’t solve. In other words, criticism is a good thing at times.
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