Detective Pikachu Part 1
When I was looking around on The Pokémon Database this morning for inspiration for my blog, the first thing I saw was the announcement that the newest Pokémon movie, “Detective Pikachu,” was released in theaters on Friday May 10th. Although I haven’t seen the movie yet, I’ve been very impatient for its debut since I first learned about it around a month or two ago. I haven’t been this excited for a movie to come out in theaters since “Teen Titans Go to the Movies”came out last July. So today, in order to celebrate this occasion, I would like to share my initial thoughts about the movie and my excitement about its release.
I find that using “Detective Pikachu” (the game) as the source material for this movie was a great, refreshing decision. Detective Pikachu is a 3DS game released worldwide in March of 2018. In the game, you play as Tim Goodman, a kid who works with the talking Detective Pikachu to solve the case of the missing Harry Goodman, Tim’s father and Pikachu’s partner, in Ryme City. This is the general plot of the movie as well. Although I do own the game, I played it once for about an hour, and I haven’t touched it since. The most memorable part of the game, which I got to experience in my single hour of play, is its full voice acting, which is extremely rare in the Pokémon series. I cannot help but feel that the voice acting is part of what allows this game to make sense as a full-fledged movie. Additionally, the world of “Detective Pikachu” feels so real compared to the main series Pokémon games in a way that’s hard to explain. In the main series games, Pokémon are for battling, trading, and catching while in Detective Pikachu, the Pokémon are interconnected with the daily lives of all the people in Ryme City. Murkrow don’t just attack you out of the tall grass but fly around in parks with other flying-type Pokémon. You don’t just battle annoying Aipom, but they take your precious belongings and run off with them. Finally, Pikachu is not just another Pokémon (albeit the mascot of the franchise) but also a talking detective with a personality and motives of his own. This interconnectedness between the human and Pokémon in Ryme City makes Detective Pikachu the perfect candidate for a Pokémon live-action film, which is especially fortunate since turning animated characters into CGI live-action movies seems to be a common trend these days. With these traits completely unique from all the main series Pokémon games, Detective Pikachu is a great Pokémon game to turn into a movie.
I heard about the movie sometime around two months ago when some people mention that there was going to be movie about Detective Pikachu. I instantly perked up from whatever mundane task I was doing at the moment. I don’t quite remember what I did after I heard the news, but I definitely had some curiosity about this odd, new movie. Around a few weeks after that, I was reading Buzzfeed articles when I came across a trailer for Detective Pikachu. I watched the trailer, and from that point onward, I was hooked. What amazed me more than anything was seeing all the CG Pokémon among the people, as if they were really there. “This is what Pokémon would look like if they were really alive,” I said to myself. Detective Pikachu was absolutely adorable, with his big round eyes and soft-looking fur. I’ve never been too fond of Pikachu, as I’ve already considered him overrated and spoiled by Gamefreak (the game developer) as the series mascot, yet I couldn’t help but fall in love with that adorable yellow ball of fur. The rest of the Pokémon were substantially less cute but still really cool looking, even those that didn’t appeal to me very much. The Snorlaxes, Bulbasaurs, and Emolgas were cute and charming. I found the Ludicolo and Jigglypuff to be (surprisingly) on the more disturbing side. Charizard just looked plain murderous with its muscular frame, tall stance, and fiery breath. I couldn’t wait to see how other Pokémon would be represented in CG in “Detective Pikachu.”There were of course people and Pokémon together in previous Pokémon movies, but those films were animated in 2D. To see people and Pokémon together in the real world was incredible, and from that point forward, I knew that I definitely needed to see this movie.
After all that, I couldn’t wait to see the movie. I never saw any new trailers afterward, but the mounting hype kept me excited, and it finally came out in theaters last Friday. I (of course) haven’t read any reviews yet, but the small blurb on The Pokémon Database home page said the movie has mostly been garnering positive reviews, so that’s a great sign for what’s to come.
I haven’t seen the movie as of yet, but my dad said that we could see the movie in theaters sometime. If I do get to see “Detective Pikachu,”get ready for a second part to this blog post!