237. Pokemon - Detective Pikachu; movie review

POKEMON - DETECTIVE PIKACHU
Cert PG
104 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild fantasy threat

It's nearly 20 years since our son was a wildly enthusiastic collector of Pokémon cards - as, indeed, were all boys of his age.
It's even three years since that very strange Pokémon Go craze saw children and adults spotting different characters in public places (no, I didn't understand it either).
But anyone who thought that the popularity of the Japanese cartoon had diminished was clearly wrong.
Rob Letterman's Detective Pikachu has so far made $410m at the box office against a $150m outlay. That guarantees a follow-up.
This live-action film stars Justice Smith as a young insurance salesman who has given up Pokémon training after the death of his mother and absence of his father.
He travels to the city where Pokémon and humans live and work together following the apparent death of his dad in a car crash.
As he goes about tieing up some loose ends he is greeted by a Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who unusually speaks English and claims he was his father's police partner.
The two try to get to the bottom of how he died and, thus, embark on an adventure which includes illegal Pokémon fighting, city corruption at the highest level. In other words, Detective Pikachu becomes an unexpected buddy film.
For those with prior knowledge of Pokémon, this would all seem jolly interesting but I don't know my Charizards from my Bulbasaurs so this became something a test of my stamina in trying to keep up.
Even so, I could work out what was coming next at almost every turn - including an ending which opens out the prospects of a  sequel. Yawn.

Reasons to watch: Pokémon fans might find it fun
Reasons to avoid: Dull storyline and cliched dialogue

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know? Most people would probably point to Pikachu or Bulbasaur as the first Pokemon. However, according to Ken Sugimori, Rhydon was the first Pokemon ever created by the original team.

The final word. Rob Letterman: "When Ryan came on? He was still doing Deadpool 2, and we were looking for that big voice out of that little character, someone who is hilariously funny but also could be very dramatic emotionally and have a lot of heart." Comics Beat

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