Pokemon: Detective Pikachu discussion
I wasn't too sure whether that movie warranted a Discussion Thread, given only Endgame got one here so far but… hey, I really liked the movie.
The pokemon CGI was amazing. Storyline was not half-bad (not great tho); somewhat predictable although with a nice twist I personally didn't see coming.
I'm not even a huge pokemon fan or anything, but this took me back to my childhood quite a bit. I really like how they mostly featured pokemon from the original 151, which made the movie very approachable to old-timers.
It also didn't feel awkward or childish or cringey or anything you might expect from, well, a pokemon movie. Loved hearing the theme music in the TV background early on. Loved pikachu's singing, that was pretty hilarious, felt like a nice place for the movie to poke some fun towards itself.
Coming out, I was reminded of how I felt after seeing the Warcraft movie: Seeing characters that have played such a special part in my life, being brought to a full-feature live-action. It's really a unique feeling. I guess that's why I'm looking forward to both Aladdin and The Lion King coming out this year; even though neither were as special as Warcraft/Pokemon, I still get chills thinking about the unbelievable CGI quality we get for what a few years ago we'd never have thought would go beyond plain animation.
I tried to keep the post body mostly spoilerfree but this is tagged spoiler so I guess go nuts in the comments.
I just saw this yesterday with my fiance. Even though she has never been into Pokemon, she really ended up enjoying the movie as much as I did.
Some overall takeaways for me:
I was really surprised at how much I ended up enjoying it! I was a bit hesitant going in, but it was an awesome experience. The Pokemon looked excellent, and I was totally captivated by the world they built. Some of the acting was a little cheesy for sure, but it's to be expected from a Pokemon movie. Ryan Reynolds was great as Pikachu.
I definitely want to see more movies built from the same style; I didn't think I'd want Pokemon movies to be styled so "realistically" (it was certainly uncanny when the trailer first came out), but now there's nothing I want more out of the franchise.
Also, was anyone else super giddy when they were handed their free pack of Pokemon cards before the movie?
Man, what was that Pokemon card promo? I didn't get anything :(
Had to ask for it? My brother and I were handed it though without asking, so I dunno.
Was it in every country? I'm in Belgium, figured it might be a US only thing ...
US and AUS, I suppose. Sorry about that confusion.
https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/detective-pikachu/card-availability/
Oh well.
Oh that's unfortunate! :(
The guy who took our tickets had a stack of Pokemon card packs in front of him and handed one to everyone who was seeing Detective Pikachu. They were special promo packs for the movie that had two cards each in them; one was Detective Pikachu, the other one was another random Pokemon from the movie. They were both holographic too! I got Magikarp.
I guess Warner Bros have a roadmap for the "World of Pokemon" movies now. The mainline games we're always going to be a hassle to adapt since they're open world on top of video games, but this did alright with a more structured spin-off.
Writers did this movie no favors, and I have the feeling that if the bad guy just had a press conference or a private demonstration and explained his plan instead of just showing it off during the parade, a lot of people would have been far more accommodating of it. Evil, absolutely, but still marketable.