Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 3
Cinema Rating: PG13
MTRCB Rating: PG
Set in the Pokemon universe, Tim Goodman receives the tragic news of his
estranged father’s accident, Harry Goodman (Ryan Reynolds), a prolific
detective of the Ryme City. Tim (Justice Smith) goes there and upon accessing
his dad’s apartment to collect his belongings, he finds a vial with an “R”
label with it. Curious about what it is, he opens it, only to find out that it
contains a chemical that makes harmless Pokemon, pocket-sized monsters, violent
for a certain period of time. He then finds Pikachu, his dad’s Pokemon partner
who speaks only to him; likewise, he alone can understand it. Tim later on finds
out that Pikachu lost his memory but wants to uncover the real reason behind
his father’s accident.
An adaptation of the world-renowned video game, Detective Pikachu is
a fun treat to its fans who are mostly young or young-at-heart. It is amazing
to see those little pocket monsters come bigger than life on screen. The CGI
effectively executes what a Pokemon world would look like. It is interesting to
see people having actually live-virtual pets. The story and plot development is
simple yet focused amidst the seemingly complicated universe of the characters.
The dialogue is witty and can even go philosophical at times. Reynolds did a
very good job acting and/or voice acting as Pikachu. Despite the limitations of
CGI use in expressing Pikachu’s facial expression, Reynolds and the effects
team certainly have made it work. Smith and Newton, on the other hand, show
much promise. The film though, in its entirety can be dragging at times and tends
to alienate non-fanatics of Pokemon.
Detective Pichachu is all about family.
Specifically, it follows the estranged relationship of a son to his father as
interrupted by ambition and obsession with technological advancement. Family
and meaningful relationships, either between humans and humans or humans and
virtual pets, are given importance in the film. Yes, peaceful co-existence
between humans and virtual aliens like pokemons is possible, as shown in the
film. Blood relationships ultimately matter and everything is resolved with
genuine love and concern. In a macro perspective, the film tackles evil
destruction of the planet—and how humans, more than the aliens, could be the
enemies in the care of God’s creation. Given this scenario, certain scenes of
violence in the film are inevitable. However, in the movie, those are necessary
depictions of evil. It is still good to note that good triumphs over evil in
the end – and the young viewers will learn much from it. But CINEMA still
believes that children below 13 years of age still needs guidance as they are
susceptible to images of violence and may not be able to discern the real
enemies are.
DIRECTOR: Rob Letterman LEAD
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar
Chaparro, Chris Geere, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy
SCREENWRITER: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek
Connolly PRODUCER: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Hidenaga Katakami,
Don McGowan EDITOR: Mark Sanger, James Thomas, Legendary
Pictures, Toho, Warner Bros. MUSICAL
DIRECTOR: Henry Jackman GENRE: Mystery/Fantasy CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros Entertainment LOCATION:
United States and Japan RUNNING
TIME: 104 minutes
