Cinematic adaptations of video game franchises (especially of the live-action Hollywood variety) have’t enjoyed the successful history of comic book cinema – do we need to be reminded of the Mortal Kombat movies, or Super Mario Brothers? Ok, that last one I kind of enjoyed, but purely because of how… wrong it was.
But what about Rob Letterman’s latest Pokémon Detective Pikachu? So far it has received rave reviews from fans, has been hailed by some as one of, if not the best video game movie of all time, and managed to delight general audiences, without insulting life-long fans. But how? And why haven’t past attempts been as successful? And more to the point, how long will we have to wait for actual, real life Pokémon to exist? Surely someone is working on that.
With Super Mario Bros. and other Hollywood adaptations like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, fans have often despaired at the misrepresentation of their beloved source material. In the case of Resident Evil (2002), the isolating, claustrophobic atmosphere of the games was replaced with more action packed cinema and a significantly larger cast. While the first instalment in the film franchise is certainly enjoyable on some levels, it’s barely recognisable as ‘Resident Evil’ and may as well have had a different title to be enjoyed as a new franchise. Silent Hill (2006) similarly misrepresents the themes that are key to the games identity, even though the aesthetics of the film are recognisable.
The 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie similarly failed because it tried to force the Mario universe to fit in the real life setting of New York City. The Goombas for instance, which we recognise as sentient mushrooms, were redesigned as mutants that looked like a cross between Earl Sinclair from 1990s Dinosaurs and poor TMNT villains, while Bowser… well, he went from being a fire-breathing dragon-turtle, to Donald Trump with Lisa Simpson hair. Clearly suffering from trying too hard to redesign a franchise in a gritty real world setting. This was always a worry leading up to the release of Detectice Pikachu, that the Pokémon themselves would look out-of-place or overly redesigned with the real world aesthetic in mind, yet thankfully this hasn’t been the case.
Rob Letterman’s Detective Pikachu borrows from the popular multi-media franchise, comprising of multiple games with spin-offs, manga and anime series, and an abundance of animated film tie-ins – not to mention more merchandise opportunities than there are entries in the latest Pokédex. Letterman’s Ryme City – based on the London skyline with extra skyscrapers to join the Gherkin, Poké-paraphernalia and, well, Pokémon (we don’t seem to have as many walking around in real-life London, sadly) – is a place where humans and Pokémon live in harmony, where the traditional battles from the games and anime exist as illegal underground cage fights. Maybe the Officer Jenny’s and Nurse Joy’s got sick of having to deal with random Pokémon street fights after 20+ years…
The story follows 21-year-old Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), an insurance salesman (it seems he has turned his back on trying to catch ‘em all) who receives news about a loss in the family, and as the story evolves (much like the beloved titular creatures), leads him to become entangled in a conspiracy thanks to a surprise encounter with an amnesiac Pikachu only he can understand. The plot keeps the film unique from other Pokémon stories, yet it is clearly grounded within the familiar world we spent far too much of our childhood in. Or rather, wished we were. I for one still do, and still want a real Eevee.
“You’re adorable! They can’t understand me, kid”
Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) to Tom Goodman (Justice Smith)
For more casual cinema-goers Detective Pikachu is unapologetically fun, with comic moments, never dull, and with spectacular visuals and more adorable Pokémon than you will notice in your first viewing. For those hardened Ace Trainers since 1996, you’ll be glad to know there’s plenty to keep your eyes peeled for in the background and foreground, with Easter eggs to the wider franchise (games and anime alike), without being too intrusive on the film itself. As well as having plenty of visual references, keen-eared Audino’s will likely recognise more than a fair few scores from the games and anime. No spoilers, but you’ll come to really appreciate that Pikachu can speak, and therefore sing, later in the film, especially if you’re familiar with the ever popular TV series.
It strikes a balance between a casual, family-fun flick, while being Pokéfan-conscious with plenty of references and allusions. Some of the visual details, from moves, Pokémon sizes, and behaviour patterns, are pulled straight out of the in-game Pokédex – something Pokéfans will notice casual fans may not, but are utilised to add to the believability of the world, where the creatures seem more ‘natural’, even as CG monsters that can cast Ice Beams, generate Thunderbolts, and evolve by holding elemental stones.
The charm is in the setting, characters, visuals, and references sprinkled throughout. However, while the story itself is unique within the Pokémon franchise, it’s also somewhat predictable. Not to spoil the ending, but frankly you can see it coming from pretty early on, or even just by reading the blurb for the story premise. Then again, it is meant to be enjoyed by all ages.
“So you’re a talking Pikachu with no memories, who’s addicted to caffeine?”
Tim Goodman’s rough, yet accurate, character sketch of Ryan Reynold’s Pikachu?
The performances are stellar throughout, with the lead taken by Justice Smith, who you may recognise from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). He appears in nearly every scene and can switch between goofy comedy to sincere when the scene requires. Part way through, he is joined by Kathryn Newton’s Lucy Stevens, a would-be detective journalist with a nose for a story and a Psyduck on the verge of exploding from stress… detective journalism might not be the best line of work for Misty’s old fan-favourite companion. There are also appearances by Ken Watanabe as Ryme City Police Lieutenant Hide Yoshida, Bill Nighy as founder of Ryme City and CEO extraordinaire Howard Clifford, and… Rita Ora is also there. You’ll be forgiven if you miss her appearance, though.
While Justice Smith proves to be very capable of holding the lead role (better than he can throw a Pokéball at a Cubone, that’s for sure), it’s the surprising casting of Deadpool that everyone will be drawn to. Ryan Reynolds electric performance allows for some of the better comic moments, often being the highlight of each scene, with dry humour that works well with the ‘detective noir’ style of the story. Even despite being bright yellow. But his performance as the infamous little rodent goes beyond simply delivering lines like a Delibird delivers letters. Motion capture techniques employed mean that Pikachu is very expressive as well as painfully adorable. This makes him seem more natural and elevates the liveliness of the character – regardless of his CG existence. In reality, we’re just waiting for Deadpool to say “Pika Pika” at least once in Deadpool 3…
And let’s not forget Mr. Mime, who is somehow more disturbing as a 3D model, where Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Morelull are absurdly adorable. If Pennywise was a Pokémon, he would undoubtedly be a Mr. Mime. But this is a credit to the animation. Thankfully, the Pokémon are integrated reasonably well in the real-life backdrop of the scenery. Naturally, with the amount of CG on display, there are moments where it slackens and it is often obvious that they are CG models – but the effect, nonetheless, is potent. More admirable is that every Pokémodel is recognisable – assuming you are familiar with the 809 entries, as of Generation VII. Frighteningly, with Sword & Shield releasing soon, the new Generation VIII Regional Pokédex will only increase the National Pokédex entries…
“So let me get this right, we’re forced to listen to this spa music so your head doesn’t explode and kill us all?”
Pikachu to Psyduck – though to you and me, it would sound more like “Pika Pika”
As an adaptation of a predominantly video game-lead franchise, Detective Pikachu manages to succeed where many others have failed. Miserably so, in many cases. This is largely because they try too hard to adapt the crucial ‘gaming experience’ into a purely cinematic one, since video games are quite obviously designed to be played not watched.
They offer a unique interactive experience, which might involve you solving increasingly complex and elaborate puzzles, navigating large open-world maps, fighting monsters of varying size, or scaling mountainous terrain. Or alternatively, launching distressed aves at precariously positioned swine.
In a game of 15 hours, it may be the case that amongst the actual ‘gameplay’, only an hour of the total runtime consists of cutscenes to progress the story (unless Kojima is involved, that is). Drawing out a full feature length film from this without the interactive gameplay element has often resulted in boiling down an interesting game, into a subpar film. The fun of Prince of Persia, for instance, came from mastering its impossible platforming, dodging traps, figuring out complex time-based puzzles, and combatting various enemies. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that a film where an actor leaps around a CG background doesn’t hold the same impact. Attempts to represent the ‘gameplay’ on-screen just doesn’t hold the same value – even if the first-person segment in Doom (2005) attempted to capture the visuals of the 1993 game.
It has been shown that the cinematic experience can be successfully implemented in gaming, rather than the other way round, with the likes of The Last of Us, which has been praised for its ability to tell a story that offers a cinematic experience alongside its gameplay. The use of motion capture allowed the actors portraying Joel and Ellie to do more than simply deliver lines from a script, affording them more active parts akin to traditional cinema, adding to the emotional connection between the two characters.
It could be argued that a game like The Last of Us could be an interesting premise for a film, however recasting the characters only to retell a story that has already been told successfully would not only disappoint fans, but come across as unnecessary. The original story of Detective Pikachu in this regard saves it from falling into the ‘unnecessary retelling’ bin. More to the point, as with the previously mentioned Prince of Persia, moments where you must stealth your way past Clickers are all the more intense because there are consequences to your actions: while this could be portrayed onscreen, the intensity and meaning behind it would fall flat by comparison. On top of this, environmental interaction serves as a key design to world-building in The Last of Us which would be lost in cinema. Cinematic games of this nature simply don’t benefit from a purely cinematic experience, relying on your ability to explore and interact with the environment to flesh out the world the game is set in, which a more linear approach to storytelling in cinema can’t compete with.
“Pika Pika”
Pikachu – shockingly enough
With references to the wider franchise that range from subtler than a Sudowoodo on Route 36, to as obvious as a shiny red Gyarados, there’s plenty on offer here to satisfy any who think themselves Pokémon experts on par with Professor Oak. Yet because of it’s family-fun tone, easy to follow story and creative world design, as well as it’s cast and visuals, casual fans will find enjoyment, too. Hopefully it will be viewed by other film makers as an example of how to do a game-movie right, despite its predictable ending.
Ryme City manages to look like it would fit in the Pokémon universe. Letterman presents a fine balance between a grainy real-life setting and the colourful cartoonish Pokémon, who are integrated well enough into the backdrop, with references to a rich franchise that heighten a sense of world-building and placement.
It should be mentioned that there is a Detective Pikachu game for the Nintendo 3DS, though they should also be treated as separate entities. The game suffered from being overly simplistic, where cutscenes were followed by character dialogue explaining the story that had just been told.
Where other film adaptations of video games have failed, Detective Pikachu respects the source material, crafting its own world around this concept, opting against adapting a pre-existing story from the franchise, or using established protagonist like Ash (from the animé) or Red (protagonist from the GB games and manga). It doesn’t try to rationalise the fantastic, or adapt gameplay mechanics into the film – like the redesign of the Goombas, or platforming sequences of Prince of Persia.
Just think what might happen if someone were to attempt a Sonic the Hedgehog film only to succeed in upsetting fans and receive negative criticism for poor design choices? Certainly something to Mews over. Thank Arceus Detective Pikachu came along to break the curse and prove naysayers wrong.
