Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and The Pokémon Company presents Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. This urban fantasy mystery film directed by Rob Letterman, written by Letterman, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Derek Connolly, based on the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and the 2016 video game Detective Pikachu. It is the first live-action adaptation in the franchise. Ace private eye Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City – they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.
In April 2016, after the success of the Detective Pikachu video game, released on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS in early February, it was announced that a bid for the live action movie rights to Pokémon commenced. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Legendary were the frontrunners in the bidding war. In mid July, it was announced that Legendary won and the film was officially announced to be fast-tracked to start production in 2017. Legendary and The Pokémon Company wanted to adapt the Detective Pikachu game instead of the 1990s animated series. In mid August, Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch were hired to pen the script. Eric Pearson, Thomas McCarthy, Connolly, Hernandez, Samit and Letterman provided revisions. In late November, Letterman was hired to direct after Dean Israelite, Andrew Adamson, Robert Rodriguez, Tim Miller, Mark A.Z. Dippé, Jon Favreau, Shane Acker, and Chris Wedge were considered. By mid January 2018, Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy rounded out the cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, wrapped in early May. Filming took place in London, England; Denver, Colorado; and Scotland. During production, it was revealed that the film would feature a little over sixty Pokémon, which would be designed by artist RJ Palmer. Moving Picture Company (MPC), Framestore, Image Engine, Rodeo FX, and Instinctual VFX provided the visual effects. In early November, the first trailer was released and, within twenty-four hours, received a hundred million views and a million likes.
The film stars Reynolds, Smith, Newton, Waterhouse, Chaparro, Geere, Watanabe, and Nighy. The cast gave entertaining performances, especially that of Mr Reynolds himself, who also gave a surprising effective performance as everybody's most beloved Pokémon. Although, one can't help feel that the performances stumbled from one cinematic cliche into another.
Despite effective world-building and amazing live-action renditions of the beloved creatures, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, unfortunately, suffers from its poorly constructed and cliched plot. However, the film is still an entertaining film that features a groundbreaking mix of humans and Pokémon, with entertaining performances to boot.
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