‘Pokemon Detective Pikachu’: Get a clue
Pokemon Detective Pikachu Rated: PG for action/peril, some rude and suggestive humor, and thematic elements. Running time: 104 minutes. 66 out of 4
The makers of “Pokemon Detective Pikachu” understand there will be some Poke-clueless adults in the audience, and grant mercy on them.
The action takes place in about an 85 percent liveaction world, with a familiar detective noir construct. Our heroes seem to spend more time explaining the Pokemon that appear on screen than actually training them. Ryan Reynolds provides the voice of animated co-star Pikachu, and basically performs a PGrated version of his popular Deadpool character.
But despite attempts to cultivate mainstream appeal, the returns are diminishing in the new movie, especially during the action-heavy and uninspired third act. Your enjoyment of this film will depend on how much investment you have in Pokemon coming in — or whether you have a Pocket Monster-savvy kid nearby to translate.
“Pokemon Detective Pikachu” is grounded in something close to the real world, designed like the GPS-aided mobile game “Pokemon Go,” but without the need for augmented reality to see the monsters. College graduate Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) has trouble capturing the free range Pokemon that roam the countryside, and bonding with the creatures.
The death of Tim’s estranged father sends him to a “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”-style metropolis where Pokemon and men live essentially as equals. Tim joins forces with the ubiquitous Pikachu, an electricity-based creature who appears to be a mix of a capybara, a canary and a car battery.
These early moments, the best in the film, feel like a Chris Columbus-directed early “Harry Potter” movie. Smith is a likeable actor, and his grief and isolation seem real, as we are slowly introduced to the colorful Pokemon world.
Director Rob Letterman, who guided “Goosebumps” to success in 2015, has a knack for providing insider moments for the fans, without alienating newcomers. As several dozen different fluffy, fiery and gelatinous creatures are introduced, the rules of the Pokemon world always seem clear.
Best of all, “Pokemon Detective Pikachu” never takes itself 100 percent seriously. When a character starts singing the Pokemon theme song — you know, the one that’s been stuck in your head for the past 17 years — it’s presented with both celebration and a hint of apology.
The first major problems surface in an early action scene, an underground cage match that never takes off. There’s a lot of posturing and big speeches in this movie, coupled with extremely bland fight choreography. Pikachu, presumably on every other child’s backpack these past two decades for a reason, never gets much of a chance to show his powers.
Reynolds often seems lost for material, whether it’s the restrictions of the PG rating, or deficiencies created by the four screenwriters. By the halfway mark Pikachu might as well be in an “Alvin and the Chipmunks” sequel, resorting to bodily function jokes.
By the time the central mystery is eventually solved, with an initially confusing finish, the 104minute running time feels closer to 21⁄2 hours.
But at the end the flesh and blood characters take over again, with a reminder that despite the movie’s drawbacks, “Pokemon Detective Pikachu” had a pretty good heart the whole time.
That’s the small victory for any reluctant chaperones in the audience. If you’re going to spend money and hours of your time on a movie you personally don’t want to see, it’s nice to finish with a clear, positive message.