Pokémon Detective Pikachu: game spinoff delivers retro CGI thrills

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a 2019 urban fantasy mystery film directed by Rob Letterman. Based on the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and the 2016 video game Detective Pikachu, it was written by Letterman, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Derek Connolly, from a story by Hernandez, Samit and Nicole Perlman. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures in association with Toho. It is the first live-action Pokémon film.

Ryan Reynolds stars as the voice and facial motion capture of Pikachu, with Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy in live-action roles. As of May 2019, 67% of 263 reviews compiled by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and have an average rating of 5.96/10.

The website’s critical consensus reads, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu may not take its wonderfully bizarre premise as far as it could have, but this offbeat adaptation should catch most – if not all – of the franchise’s fans.”It is the best-reviewed live-action film adaptation of a video game on the website.

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, provides a score of 53 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A−” on an A+ to F scale, while general audiences polled by PostTrak gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Scott Mendelson of Forbes called the film “the best video game movie ever” and wrote, “Detective Pikachu works because it’s a good movie first and a promising franchise-starter or a brand cash-in second.

It’s a real film, rooted in character arcs and narrative twists with just enough raw emotion and personal stakes to make the significant special effects moments matter beyond spectacle.” CNET’s Sean Keane also called the film the best ever based on a video game, calling it an “entertaining romp with plenty of heart,” and praising Reynolds.