Review Detective Pikachu

[Silktree]

Spoiler

the mewtwo thing is strange and this would imply that the anime either did not feature mewtwo in this reality or that the mewtwo movie was inspired by the true events of mewtwo's creation and escape, but the real events not including meeting an ash-like character.

Spoiler

No idea if that's what they have in mind, but it would be very cool. Imagine Takeshi Shudo being referenced as an in-universe character who wrote a movie based on the mysterious Mewtwo that hardly anyone really knows. I guess Harry/Pikachu wouldn't have remembered the movie (the song just popped into his mind out of boredom) and Tim would have been too young for it.

 

[Deleted member 72389]

Spoiler:

I watched the movie today and loved it! I think I'll rate it 8/10.

My thoughts on the movie:-

• The Pokemon! Their designs felt realistic and adorable. Snubbull had a bit too much of fur imo, but others were really cute.
• Tim was a likable protagonist, it was easy to sympathize with him. And Lucy was also good. Although the crush part did felt forced.
• Harry/Pikachu was totally entertaining and hilarious! But I do wonder how they are going to make a sequel considering what happens in the end.
• The scene where it first looks like the mountains are shifting, and we later find out it's giant Torterra was really cool! I wish the movie was in 3D, that would have made scenes like this much more effective. And I would have loved to see all the Pokemon in 3D too.
• The twist about the real villain was nicely done. I actually liked it more than the Harry/Pikachu twist.
• As a Pokemon movie this was really good. But as a murder/kidnapping mystery they could've done better. (Although I don't think anyone would go to watch this movie for the actual mystery. Most people like me are just there for the Pokemon lol)
• They could've shown more Pokemon from regions other than Kanto, but maybe they are saving it for a sequel, who knows.
• I wish Tim's friend Jack had more role.
• Ryme City looks stunningly beautiful. I liked it!
• Mewtwo looked really badass. Also Gyarados in that one scene looked brilliant!

Overall, I really loved the movie. Some things could've been done in a better way, but it was still enjoyable.

 

[Silktree]

Spoiler

I think that the Detective Pikachu sequel is just a tentative term for the rumored Mewtwo spin-off. Tim and Harry could appear, but as secondary characters now that they lack the main appeal.

 

[BigDocFan]

Curious to know if the Pokemon voices (bar Pikachu) were done by TPCI

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Curious to know if the Pokemon voices (bar Pikachu) were done by TPCI

From what I've seen on Twitter it seems to be a mix of archive audio and new stuff (done in LA).

Rachael Lillis said that she found out she was Jigglypuff in the film (which means they're using archive audio), Lisa Ortiz already confirmed that the NY cast has nothing to do with it and David Errigo Jr (one of the additional voices listed in the credits) confirmed he voiced Cubone.

 

[BigDocFan]

From what I've seen on Twitter it seems to be a mix of archive audio and new stuff (done in LA).

Rachael Lillis said that she found out she was Jigglypuff in the film (which means they're using archive audio), Lisa Ortiz already confirmed that the NY cast has nothing to do with it and David Errigo Jr (one of the additional voices listed in the credits) confirmed he voiced Cubone.

Shame about that, will be seeing the movie myself on the 15th

 

[Scruffyjay]

Spoiler:

• Tim was a likable protagonist, it was easy to sympathize with him. And Lucy was also good. Although the crush part did felt forced.

Definitely agree there, I feel like they didn't really

Spoiler

flesh out the crush part and it seemed to go too fast. I like them more as friends.

 

[Silktree]

Spoiler

They were just colleagues, but he was attracted to her. It felt like a joke about how passive he was, although he had other priorities and when all said was done, his dad came back.

It's odd how the comic adaptation doesn't even have a release date yet. It's too bad that the art doesn't look like that cool concept art from the credits.

 

[Cinnabar]

I just saw it this afternoon, it was great! It was not dull at all, or a cheap recreation of the originals, and the story behind it was awesome.

I'd go see it again just to hear some of the quotes, they are pretty funny and I find myself quoting on them since this afternoon.

 

[Dogasu]

Spoiler

When asked if there was a Pokémon anime within the world of Detective Pikachu, the writers noted that "the deep history of this world is present in the world of Detective Pikachu," pointing to the fact that the film's Mewtwo is the same one that escaped in the events of the first Pokémon movie, which was released 20 years ago.

"It's all connected, it's all a part of the greater Pokémon universe," Samit teased.

This is the first I'm seeing this quote and holy shit is that terribad. It just doesn't work, for the reasons Unonwn Seer listed before, and the whole thing is so half-assed that it feels like more of an afterthought than a legitimate attempt to connect anything.

I personally thought that

Spoiler

the anime is fiction in the detective pikachu world, since pikachu sings the theme song at one point

Well when it comes to the connection between the movie and the animated series:

Spoiler

They've had characters in the TV show sing its theme songs in-show before; off the top of my head I know both Mezase Pokemon Master and Best Wishes! have been sung by characters in-show before. I think Ryan Reynolds Pikachu singing the English dub theme is just another example of that, nothing more.

 

[techitisJ]

Absolutely loved this movie. I think my favorite thing about it was that it appealed to everyone: to Pokemon fans, and to people who maybe know Pikachu and Charizard.

Things I really loved:

Spoiler

Just Detective Pikachu's whole character. I loved all the great lines that he made, and how you can really see him trying to support Tim, especially after Tim told Pikachu that his father was dead.

I love how they also used Pikachu's actual voice actress Ikue Otani for the couple short moments where Pikachu wasn't speaking human. That was a very great idea on their part and is much appreciated.

The interaction between Tim and Pikachu. Mentioned it a bit earlier, but they have some really great connection. They really worked hard on that and it shows.

The Pokemon in general. They took a little while to get used to during the trailers, but the moment I sat down in the theatre and the movie started, it just all felt natural. There are still some of them I don't think worked as well, but it did all feel really natural.

Going off of the Pokemon, while I know the majority of the focus was on Gen 1 Pokemon, to appeal to the more general crowd, I am glad they did feature Pokemon up through Gen 7. I loved finding all these different Pokemon. And I am very glad that they did put a few Pokemon that were not from Gen 1 in the spotlight, even if it was only for a short while. (like the Morelull, Torterra, and Greninja)

And speaking of Torterra, I absolutely loved what they did with that. LIke I was like "Oh, I wonder why they didn't get bigger?" and then dropped it because of everything we got in between them showing off the Torterra, and then the Giant Torterra Garden that made up the forest. That was a great idea.

Things I wish they did more with

Spoiler

First off, and I possibly missed it somewhere, but at the ending when it's revealed that Harry was within Pikachu the whole time, and that's why Pikachu talked, I was like okay, this makes sense. But what was messing me up a bit was if Harry being inside Pikachu like that was why Pikachu talked, why was it only Tim that could hear him? Like maybe it was because Tim was Harry's son, I think there was something about that. But I might have just genuinely missed it.

The whole crush thing with Lucy did not need to happen. In fact, I don't think her character needed to happen. lIke, it helped at a couple of points in the movie, but I think some of the points where she was useful just could have been handled in a different way, without her. I mean, I liked her personality and all, but she just wasn't needed.

The beginning was kind of annoying. They never used the idea of catching a Pokemon for the rest of the movie. I know it was there to give the idea that Ryme City is different, because they don't catch Pokemon there, but idk. I think they could have lead to the movie better without that.

Parts of the story felt a tiny bit bland to me, which might feel more emphasized by others. I honestly don't see that kind of thing though, because I usually really love most movies the first time I see them unless there is something horribly wrong with them. By no means a movie critic here.

Overall, very much enjoyed the movie, and honestly might see it again while it's still in theatres if my school has it as one of the $2 movie night showings. If not, I will likely be renting it on youtube or something after the fact to look for the tiny details I missed.

 

[Silktree]

I'm just going to ignore that quote and hope for better worldbuilding in the next movie, which is apparently being penned by a new writer (Oren Uziel).

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure that this sequel is the Mewtwo spin-off rumored earlier, with or without Tim and Harry.

Here's a more coherent interview, with the following highlight:

“[Pokémon is] such a rich universe. There are so many ways you can go inside of it,” Mendes said. “We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities.

“Even the Pokémon themselves, there are 800 of them,” she continued. “We're going to have a lot of them in [this movie], but we want to play with all of them at some point.”

 

[BigDocFan]

Just read that some kids, instead of seeing the movie were shown a Horror Film by mistake

 

[Myth]

Now that there are two threads, I'm confused, should we use this thread for general discussions about the live action, or it's for reviews only? I mean, I haven't even watched the movie yet.

Well, this is a pretty interesting article to read: Time - Detective Pikachu

It is interesting to note how TPC wanted the creatures to be even more faithful to the original material, while the producers wanted to try new things with it. It's ironic the part that one of the interviewees says about Jigglypuff: "But if we did it that way, it would look like a balloon." Really? You don't say

As I said, I have not watched the movie yet, but I intend to do later. Judging by the trailers, I think the production ended up doing a good job if their intention was for the Pokémon to have the maximum appeal to the general public. But I won't lie, I would like it to be closer to the original, or to take the right liberties and make more realistic creatures. But if the intention was to appeal to the general public, the middle ground ended up being enough, I think. Interesting article, regardless.

 

[Neo Blaze]

Now that there are two threads, I'm confused, should we use this thread for general discussions about the live action, or it's for reviews only? I mean, I haven't even watched the movie yet.

This thread is mainly for reviews but feel free to share interesting news or other thoughts about the movie as well. Review threads have never been strictly for reviewing only on these forums, as long as what's discussed is on-topic

 

[Robert Ketchum]

I just went to watch Detective Pikachu with a friend of mine today. My verdict of the movie? It was amazing! It's one of the best movies I had seen. It's now one of my recommendations for anyone.

 

[Cinnabar]

I just went to watch Detective Pikachu with a friend of mine today. My verdict of the movie? It was amazing! It's one of the best movies I had seen. It's now one of my recommendations for anyone.

My opinion remains the same as well!

 

[Nicolas721]

The movie was fine. It worked pretty well as a mystery movie, as it had a pretty good timing for introducing hints, answers and bizarre twists to the mysteries and plot, and it was really nice how everything was tied together. The characters were enjoyable and their relationships flowed very well. The visual effects were amazing and the Pokemon were as expressive as they promised, I might see the movie again in 3D just for them.

However, I left the theater feeling some emptiness, as the movie feels too safe. It's understandable because Pokemon it's a gigantic IP that's doing this kind of things for the first time, but I guess I was expecting "more". More jokes, more easter eggs and a much bigger Pokemon world. I didn't like the comparisons, but M20 and M21 had something to say about the Pokemon world and how it related to ours, whereas this film is apparently about

Spoiler

parenthood?

I still like that it got made and how it was promoted, and it's a nice experience.

Other notes:

Spoiler

-I liked how Mewtwo was handled, as a hero who had fallen from grace.
-The relationship between Tim and Lucy could have been handled better, but I'm grateful that it didn't end with a kiss.
-Lucy should have had clearer motivations to be a reporter, and likewise we should have gotten more information about Howard and Roger. The movie needed a few minutes more to do that.
-The final fight was a bit rushed, and the Pokemon fusing with humans idea wasn't used to its full potential. I expected at least a scene where the Pokemon direct their movies at Mewtwo, but I guess it could have been too expensive.

Curious to know if the Pokemon voices (bar Pikachu) were done by TPCI

From the top of my head, Charmander did sounded like its TPCi voice (ugh), but Psyduck, Squirtle and Aipom had completely different voice styles to the ones used in the anime, and Bulbasaur and most of the others just grunted.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Additional Voices list (as I stated before, all the cast are LA based though Rachael Lillis was credited for the Jigglypuff song in the Music list):
Jon Bailey
Maggie Baird
Susan Boyajian
Sean Chiplock
Vicki Davis
David Errigo (Jr)
Eddie Frierson
Jessica (Gee) George
Jean Gilpin
Fiona Hardingham
Dylan Hart
Meegan Holaway
Peter Lavin
John Marquis
Richard Miro
Paula J(ane). Newman
Jon K. Olson
Bradley Pierce
Michelle Ruff
Stan Sellers
Georgia Simon
Jill Smith
Skip Stellrecht
Shane Sweet
Fred Tatasciore
Brad Venable
Dave Zyler

 

[Silktree]

I didn't like the comparisons, but M20 and M21 had something to say about the Pokemon world and how it related to ours,

I am not what you mean by Movie 20 (except for the nightmare scene that wasn't really explored), but Movie 21 was pretty similar to this one in some sense. In both movies, the focus is on Pokemon co-existing with people in a city, and the protagonist(s) being bogged down by their past and relying on Pokemon to overcome it.

Spoiler

Yes, Detective Pikachu wasn't really a Pokemon at heart, but the fact that Tim believed he was made it possible for him to bond with his dad.