Review | Pokémon Detective Pikachu film review: Ryan Reynolds in surprisingly enjoyable fantasy mystery
- This lavish tale of a Pokémon with amnesia is a mixture of CGI and live action and film noir
- Reynolds voices Pikachu like a child-friendly version of his Deadpool character
3.5/5 stars
The hugely popular world of Pokémon, with its cards, toys and games, has already made it to the cinema in animated form over 20 times. But never has there been quite such a lavish effort as Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
A buzzy mix of live action and eye gouging CGI, this adaptation of the 2016 video game even has a genuine A-list star, Ryan Reynolds. Not forgetting British actor Bill Nighy, who may well consider this the strangest addition to his classy résumé.
Directed by Rob Letterman ( Goosebumps ), the story is set in Ryme City – a sort of mishmash metropolis with London landmarks and Blade Runner -style aesthetics designed by tycoon Howard Clifford (Nighy) as a place where humans and Pokémon creatures can live together in harmony.
Nearly everyone has a Pokémon and it’s one of the delights of the film to see this vibrant city with multitudes of colourful CG creatures everywhere. The visual effects team deserves huge credit. Borrowing liberally from film noir, the film also has a riot with the tropes of the genre.
Reynolds voices the CG-animated Pokémon star Pikachu, who here turns up with a deerstalker hat like a very yellow and furry Sherlock Holmes. Suffering from amnesia, all he knows is that he’s connected to one Harry Goodman, a police officer in Ryme City who died in a car crash.