Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

This movie is humorous and the visual effects are incredible. Even though some aspects of the movie leave us underwhelmed, it is still a step in the right direction.

(Theater impressions--short review) Semi-casual Pokémon fan here--played through a few of the games (never played Detective Pikachu), watched the anime as a kid, but not super invested in the franchise. A lot of people seem to be giving this movie high ratings. Detective Pikachu is not without merit, but the film's good points (namely, Ryan Reynold's performance, some good humor, some nice character interaction and overall high production values) are unfortunately outweighed by its bad points (namely, a needlessly and hopelessly convoluted plot, hit-or-miss performances from the remaining cast, some jokes that didn't land, some heavy-handed dialogue and some poor character interaction, and lack-luster CGI). The film is overall inconsistent in tone; it doesn't seem to really know who it's for or what it wants to be. I had fun watching the film with my friends in the theater (who are also familiar with Pokémon), but if you're unfamiliar with Pokémon or if you're watching it on your own on the small screen it might not quite be an enjoyable experience.

While I like Pokemon, I've never been a collector of cards or watcher of the cartoons. Still, the characters are cute and I like the idea of the competitive fights. From the trailer, the movie looked funny and cute, so I wanted to see it. And that's basically what you get from the film. Ryan Reynolds is funny and charming as the title character. The Pokemon are cute and the CGI is well done. Yet, underneath the surface, the plot is nearly nonexistent and the acting is subpar at best. So, is it worth watching? Yes. It's cute and funny. You'll laugh and be visually entertained. But once it's over, you realize you really gained nothing from the time spent watching.

And that's exactly why I enjoyed it but not loved it. It's not really the movie's fault, I just wasn't excited about seeing the Pokemons on screen. Pikachu it's super funny to watch and the voice acting is good. The actors do their part well, even though the characters aren't great in my opinion, it does the job for an adventure like this. The CGI is not bad, but the characters designs are heavily based in the anime and for some of them it works well, but for some others it doesn't. There's no re-design for any of the Pokemons, which I'm sure fans will love, but when you're watching a live action movie, textures need to resemble something real (even if it's a fantasy monster) for the eye to believe in it. With Pikachu it works well because it's hairy, but I really disliked Mewtwo look, even if he looks exactly like in the anime. Anyways, it was fun to watch, and the city's design and atmosphere was really cool. Pretty sure fans will love it. I would have given more if the nostalgia factor was on me, but as it's not the case, I only felt it's good and fun.

I've loved Pokémon my whole life and this was the most excited about Pokemon developments since Pokemon go. Whilst there is nothing to hate about the film I couldn't describe it as more than reasonably good and mildly enjoyable where as I was hoping to be blown away throughout. Having said that I'm excited to see where the franchise goes movie wise in the future as it certainly has potential.