Some spoilers ahead.
A live-action Pokemon movie. My 8-year-old self would have been head-over-heels for this. But since I am all grown up now, I … was still pretty excited to see this… Granted, I knew this was mainly a family movie, so I kept my expectations low.
As far as story, the plot was sort of generic. It’s not bad, but it was not particularly original either. It was somewhat compelling since it revolves around a mystery (Pikachu IS a detective after all). It even had a good twist at the end. Although I’d have to say, the twist didn’t make a lot of sense. *SPOILER* I know Tim hasn’t seen his dad in a long time, but could he not recognize his own dad’s voice? There are some people like teachers, mentors, and classmates that I haven’t talked to in over ten years, and I can still remember how their voices sound. This is your DAD, Tim! Come on!
Anyway, the dialogue was bland. It even felt cringy at some points. The acting was okay for most actors. Ryan Reynolds pretty much carried them in that aspect.
Now on to the stuff that I liked. The CGI for all the pokemon phenomenal. All the pokemon fit in seamlessly into the real world. I loved the added textures. You could tell which pokemon had rough skin, or rubbery skin, or fur! This texture had always been missing in the anime, and this movie made it look so natural. And they did it without jeopardizing the original designs from the cartoon, something that many others have failed at (I’m looking at you Paramount with your blue fuzzy monstrosity!).
I also enjoyed the small nods to the earlier works of the Pokemon franchise. For example, the mention of Mewtwo’s escape from Kanto which occurred “20 years ago” referring to the release of Pokemon the First Movie from 1999. Speaking of nods to the Pokemon franchise, I thought only Misty’s Psyduck needed a headache to use its psychic moves. Why does this movie make it sound like this is the case for every single Psyduck?
Overall, this was a pretty decent movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.
And to pay homage to all that is Pokemon, I picked up this adorable Pikachu macaron at Sweet Box in Buena Park today. He's shockingly delicious!
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