VGFlicks: Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Part 1)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

If I had a nickel for every Pokémon movie I’ve watched recently whose plot is kickstarted by the disappearance/presumed death of a dad... well, I’d have two nickels, but for the Pokémon franchise, it’s not so weird that it happened twice. The franchise has a weird history with fathers. Ash’s dad was mentioned but never seen – not even at the very end, when his 10 years old son became a Pokémon Master after 25 years of hard work. And Red’s dad? There are some theories, but not much else. I can't go through all of them, and there'd probably be a full analysis to be done on the topic, from Norman to Mohn passing by Ghetsis...

What I do know, is that today's film would fit right in within that essay.

Most of these look pretty good! But some just look bizarre
with the extra detail. Snorlax, in particular. The lack of
nose does it no favors.

The Pokémon Company has been toying with the idea of a live-action Pokémon movie for a long time. Before the actor’s untimely passing in 2014, there were even rumors and hopes of getting Robin Williams to star in such a film as Professor Oak, nothing less. The Pokémon franchise already had a massive presence in the worlds of gaming and anime. However, the last Pokémon movie to see a worldwide release in theaters was Pokémon 3, all the way back in 2001; the next two films only saw limited releases. But even then, going from anime to live-action is playing in an entirely different medium. And there was already a long history of live-action adaptations of games and anime failing to capture the spirit of what they adapt. I’ve heard anime fans speak of a certain live-action Dragon Ball movie with the same level of bile I spew when I talk about that dreadful 1993 Mario movie.

Ohmygawd they're so precious. (Screenshots
taken from the "Casting Detective Pikachu"
trailer.)

Therefore, expectations were VERY high when Pokémon Detective Pikachu, a live-action film, was announced. There was an interest in not screwing things up for the franchise’s grand return to the silver screens. Pokémon is already a highly marketable franchise, but extra steps were taken to ease the franchise’s transition to a wider audience; for one, focusing on Pikachu, the mascot. Next, a story that doesn’t focus as much on battles, since the franchise still sparks controversy every now and then from people who don’t understand that trainer battles are more like a regulated sport and Pokémon never stay hurt too long.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu, directed by Rob Letterman, was released in Japan on May 3rd, 2019 and everywhere else a week later. A video game also called Detective Pikachu came out in March 2018 for the Nintendo 3DS. That one is an action/adventure game focusing on a narrative. Since the game and film’s releases were only 13 months apart, both were in production at the same time for a while, so the game definitely inspired part of the film. Since the game takes about 10 to 12 hours to finish, the movie cuts the story down to the most important plot elements, while adding stuff of its own. Let's jump in!

As per usual: Spoiler alert. I’ll be covering the whole story.

The boy who doesn’t want Pokémon

I'm having Pokémon The First Movie flashbacks.
These scientists are so dead.

The movie wastes no time setting up the stakes. You know things are gonna be serious when the first Pokémon we see on the screen is friggin’ Mewtwo. And not just in any situation, either: The “most powerful Pokémon” is being experimented on by a team of scientists. The Legendary, who has never looked this creepy, is alerted to the sound of someone fleeing. A short-circuit of its capsule allows it to explode it from within and escape the lab. It flies off and spots the runaway(s?) driving away in their car. One precise blast strikes a back wheel and the vehicle, which was crossing a bridge, is sent crashing down below.

Lots of Gen 5 representation in this film. Glad to see
the Unovan 'Mons getting some love.

New scene, new place: Leaventown, a calm little place and home to our protagonist, Tim Goodman (Justice Smith). Although it’s not quite as impressive as it will be later, we’re already seeing promising signs for the movie: There are Pokémon to be seen everywhere. Crane shot of a flight of Pidgeot, panning by a Bouffalant enclosure, a smol Rufflet on a windowsill, and a line of Joltik in the forest. According to Bulbapedia, 58 different Pokémon species are featured in the film; according to Serebii, it's fewer, as there's a few discrepancies (one list claims Magnemite, Haunter and Riolu, the other doesn't). May not sound like a lot in a franchise that had 800 different creatures at time of release, but almost every single shot in the film includes Pokémon in some capacity, so we have a true feel of the omnipresence of these creatures in the presented universe.

As an example, in this screenshot alone: Doduo, Audino,
Snubbull, Squirtle, Emolga, Jigglypuff, Pancham, Loudred
and Bulbasaur. You won't realize just how many there are
until you start looking for them.

There are two types of film adaptations of video games: Those that adapt a single game, sticking to that game’s story and events (usually modified for a movie’s runtime), and those that adapt a franchise by creating a new story that will instead pull details and elements from various points in the adapted series’ history. Pokémon Detective Pikachu tries to pull double duty here, adapting the 3DS game as I mentioned, but also trying to adapt the Pokémon universe for the big screen. It’s not just about making us feel that these Pokémon are there; it’s about making us believe that they’ve always existed there. Looking at shots of Ryme City later, we not only see loads of these varied creatures all over the place (with some being so well-integrated we might only notice them after multiple viewings), but also tons of nods and references to the franchise’s then-23 years of existence, scattered around billboards, neon signs and other products.

Tim is just... so... giddy at the thought of catching a Pokémon.

Tim (Justice Smith) is being led by his friend Jack into the open fields just outside of Leaventown and being pushed into catching a Pokémon. A Cubone, to be precise. Jack thought of that only because just like Cubone, Tim’s mother passed away. Yeowch, insensitive much? Tim reluctantly agrees to try and catch the poor thing. He fails miserably, with the Ground-type bone wielder breaking out of the ball and attacking.

As they come back in town, the friends chat. Tim seems perfectly content working as an insurance appraiser, a job that feels as far removed from Pokémon as one could get in that world. He notices missed calls on his phone and, upon listening to them, his expression changes. It’s from the Ryme City Police Department, and it’s about a car accident. Well then, I guess we’re leavin’ town.

Yeah, doesn't look like good news.

A Goodman in Ryme City

Considering some clips of the report on Harold Clifford's
degenerative disease are in 4:3, we can assume he's been
battling it for a while.

Tim takes the train to Ryme City. A video displayed aboard shows Ryme City’s peculiar setting: It’s a metropolis where Pokémon battling is illegal and catching is prohibited. The animals roam the city freely, and every citizen’s companion walks by their side, not restrained into a ball. Big HeartGold/SoulSilver vibes. The city is the creation of Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy). The visionary founder of Clifford Industries had to step down from his position after being diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and traveled to find a cure for himself; unable to do so, he instead aimed to make a world where humans and Pokémon live side-by-side in perfect harmony.

....Dodrio, Arcanine, Sneasel, Greninja, Comfey, Flabébé...
There's just so damn many.

Our first steps in Ryme City may be the best part of the movie. We had shots with multiple Pokémon before, but it’s the first time we can see the sheer scope of the film’s ambition. Some Pokémon are walking by their human companion in the streets, some are flying. A Braviary brings a construction worker his lunch at the top of a crane. Machamp directs traffic around a Snorlax who fell asleep in the wrong place, because some things never friggin’ change. Squirtle help firefighters, cops have Growlithe and Arcanine, and there’s a 9-foot Golurk just outside the RCPD.

Considering Tim had a strained with his dad due to him
becoming a workaholic, maybe Yoshida shouldn't
have opened with "Your father was our best detective".

Lieutenant Hide Yoshida (Ken Watanabe) even has a Snubbull in his office, the pink bulldog as grumpy as its kind always is. The Lieutenant explains that both Harry and his partner Pokémon are presumed dead. Mentions are made that Tim first wanted to be a Trainer, but that this didn’t work out. Despite Yoshida’s insistence that Harry loved his son and thought about him every day, Tim, who only associates his father to bad memories, is in a hurry to put all this behind him and asks for the address and keys to Harry Goodman’s apartment.

"Hey, I didn't walk out of the Police Department just to walk
into another interrogation... WAIT don't record that-!"

Tim heads over to the OAK Apartment Complex. When he gets there, he gets the impression that he’s being watched by a Psyduck from across the street. He pays it no mind and walks in, getting his dad’s mail, only to be pestered by the Psyduck, which followed him in. The duck’s owner reveals herself: Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton), who had been waiting for someone to open that mailbox. She speaks like a noir detective, or maybe a news reporter in a standard noir, yet she completely ruins the illusion with both a bright pink overcoat and a speech that’s not nearly as clever as she thinks.

Lucy overdoes it because she desperately wants to be a true reporter, instead of making pointless Pokémon listicles for this world’s equivalent of BuzzFeed. I find it ironic that she wants a job as famously stressful as reporter when her partner Pokémon is the type who doesn’t handle any amount of stress well at all. However, she does have the nose to spot a juicy story and as she leaves, she says that she’ll keep investigating, because something suspicious is going on.

Nice to Meet ‘Chu

...Uh oh.

Tim enters his dad’s apartment. Great, who left the TV on? It’s Angels with Filthy Souls again, that film’s, like, 60 years old. It was already old in the ‘90s, come on. The young man checks the files on the desk, including a news clipping about ancient Mew remains found in Ryme City and a vial containing purple stuff. He opens it, causing purple smoke to blow all over the place. Tim opens the window to let the smoke out, and it floats right into a group of Aipom casually hanging around the OAK sign... making them angry.

We get flashbacks as Tim walks into a room set up for him with Pokémon memorabilia on the walls. He wanted to become a Trainer, but his mother passed away from disease when he was young. Harry Goodman was so heartbroken that he threw himself into his work and moved to Ryme City. Tim, meanwhile, was raised by his grandmother on his mom’s side. Feeling abandoned, Tim gave up on his Trainer dreams and grew to resent his dad, even pushing him away when Harry offered him to come live in the city.

If I had a nickel for every movie I covered this month about a mother who’s passed away or gone, a workaholic dad, and a child having to deal with two losses... You can fill in the Doofenshmirtz meme.

I kinda wished there was a cut of this movie without Ryan
Reynolds' voice for Pikachu, so that we'd know what it's
like when everyone else sees Tim have entire conversations
with a Pokémon who appears to only say its own name.

A noise from the living room. Arming himself with a stapler, Tim investigates and finds... a Pikachu! And then it talks to him, in English, with Ryan Reynolds' voice, making motions to explain what it’s saying. Both are shocked, no pun intended, to realize they actually understand each other! They don’t get much time to dwell on the mystery, as the Aipom attack. Tim and the Pikachu flee from a horde of those enraged little monkeys. This brings them to the roof, and they make a daring escape down the trash chute.

Getting big Gremlins vibes from these Aipom.

If you start understanding your Pokémon... well, more than
normal... in this world, it's not a guaranteed direct way to
the psych ward, but... close.

By the time they get to the busy streets, the Aipom are back to normal, and no passerby believes Tim when he explains what happened. They don’t believe that the Pikachu talks, either – only he can understand the hat-wearing rodent. Everyone else just reacts normally, acting all cute at the “Pika Pika” uttered by the Pokémon. Speaking of, none of the voice actors doing Poké-speak in the anime reprise their roles for this film... except Ikue Otani, who voices Detective Pikachu’s speech when someone other than Tim hears him. Apparently, not a single person notices that this Pikachu’s mannerisms are significantly more humanlike than normal. (Both that AND most of Pikachu’s jokes should be a tipoff about the film’s twist.)

Considering how small Pikachu is, caffeine must be
extra powerful for him.

Tim, once again embodying the spirit of "Uggggghhhh, I
don't wanna do this, but..."

Having resigned himself that no, he’s not going crazy, the Pikachu IS talking to him, and they understand each other, Tim asks the rodent what he was doing in Harry Goodman’s apartment. Turns out, this is Harry’s partner Pokémon. The little detective hat he wears belongs to Harry. However, Pikachu has lost his memories, including anything about the accident. Tim, still bitter about everything that happened with his dad, wants to leave things as they are, but Pikachu wants to investigate. If he’s still alive, maybe Harry is as well! After all, the body wasn’t found... And Pikachu adds that he has inherited some of Harry’s detective skills from years of following him around, so he might be able to solve the case.

Tim’s not too hot for the idea, but then again, he’s unfriendly anytime the topic of his dad comes up. He’s got some issues to work through, he’s an unpleasant protagonist for a chunk of the first half of the film. He gets better, but still - bold choice for a film ostensibly for kids. Like everything else, he’s reluctant to Pikachu's suggestion, but ultimately agrees to go along.

Sounds like a decent stop for Part 1. Let’s resume in Part 2, shall we?