Article Written by: Griffin Spencer
SPOILER FREE
Staring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton
Directed by: Rob Letterman (Goosebumps & Gulliver’s Travels)
Screenplay by: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly
Story by: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perl
SPOILER FREE
Podcast at the bottom
Quick Summary, Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) is sent to Ryme City to collect his late father, Henry’s, valuables. When collecting his fathers mail from his apartment mailbox, Tim is ambushed by a reporter named Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) with questions about Henry. Apparently he was working on a secret case and she is wanting to know more. Tim does not know what she is talking about so he brushes her off and goes to his dad’s apartment. Inside Tim finds a Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) who he can understand. Apparently this Pikachu was Henry’s police partner and Henry is not dead. Tim and Pikachu go on an adventure to figure out what is going on and stumble on to some hijinks on the way.
The overall story for Detective Pikachu is a good one. Its about a boy dealing with the loss of his father who he started to resent later in life. When Tim was a boy his dad had to move away to Ryme City for detective work. Tim’s father was working and dealing with Pokémon instead of spending time with Tim, which made Tim grow apart. When Tim was a young boy he wanted to be a Pokémon trainer and work with Pokémon, but because of his resentment for his father he started to not care about Pokémon. By the end of the movie Tim has some sort of resolution with his father which was nice to see. Justice Smith’s performance of Tim was very well done. He was definitely able to give the character Tim emotion and make you care about him.
The side story with the reporter, Lucy, was fine for the most part. She is a persistent reporter with a story nobody wants to hear her on. She keeps working on it and staying true to herself and somebody eventually picks up her story and gives her her own time to report it. I think what I like the most about the reporter was the performance of Kathryn Newton. Her story was not written the best, you can definitely tell multiple people worked on this script. Some of her sections of the movie just sort of fade off, don’t really have a purpose until her redemption at the end. Its a shame, but Kathryn Newton did a very good job with what she was given.
When I walked out of this movie I just absolutely loved it. I loved the world building with all the Pokémon and there interaction’s with humans in Ryme City. How everything looked and how the film was shot, it looked beautiful. But as I sit around thinking more and more about it I can see more of its faults. The writing is its biggest downfall. There is just so much going on in a little amount of time it kind of gets overwhelming. The overall story of Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a good one, but the lot of writers tried to stuff to much in. They should have kept it short and sweet and not cram too many unnecessary elements.
I still enjoy the movie Pokémon Detective Pikachu. Its a fun, beautiful looking movie that has a lot for the whole family, but is muddled with the problem of too much going on in a short film. I still recommend seeing this in theaters. It is probably on of the best times I had at the movies, but it probably helped that my showing was practically empty. I also recommend seeing this in closed captions if your theaters has any of those showings, that’s why our showing was so empty.
I hoped you enjoyed this review, and let me know what you thought of Pokémon Detective Pikachu. Did you think it was a good movie, or did you think it left more to be desired. Leave you comments down below and let us know. Duncan and I saw this together so we decided to do a little podcast. Its a little rough on the edges, but its an enjoyable one that has a nice discussion with the two of us. I’ll put time stamps below so you can skip around the podcast if you would like. Also, silly me recorded in stereo, so you have one bro from each ear. So check that out down below and let us know what you think. That is all for now from The Blam Bros, but stay tuned for more blammin’ content.
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