DETECTIVE PIKACHU: A GUIDED JOURNEY TO CHILDREN - MOVIE REVIEW
The Pokémon franchise is one of those that certainly does not stop growing, covering more and more generations. Detective Pikachu, although founded on the foundations of a growing industry, decided to bet on the core of his fame: fans born in the 80s and early 90s.
I went to see Detective Pikachu with a proverbial skepticism. That usually causes the movies to be even worse than they really are, but it is a good indication to know that I came out very satisfied with the show, and since already extremely surprised.
As a script student, in love with cinema and also gamer, I lived my whole life in the presence of films that tried to adapt the world of video games without achieving it, making a terrible attempt in that trajectory. We may find some slight exceptions but in general, in my opinion there was never a cinematographic work that successfully adapted a video game. This may have been for multiple reasons, it can be the production, the script, the direction, the budget, the format ... however, I suspect that the main reason is the lack of custom coupled with the little understanding of the universe of video games. Most have a story with a beginning, knot and outcome, like any classical dramatic structure. But we must learn to see beyond the rule, the video game brings a more three-dimensional experience and a long time ago since it challenges the fourth wall that takes so much work to the cinema. With this I do not mean that you have to be a magician to adapt video games to movies, but I do believe that the person who has experienced them from his heart, has half won battle. I don't know if Rob Letterman and the long list of writers in this movie had that connection, but at least I'm sure they knew who to ask.
The film has three fundamental pillars that cover the story almost perfectly and that is why it turned out to be a success. In the first instance, he put in a priority place the people who lived an empathic contact of his childhood with Pokémon, the references of the time, the jokes and the presentation facets of the pokémons shows that, in the long run, this film was thought so that we grab our faces again and again in a mixture of tenderness and nostalgia. In the second instance, the construction of the plot takes off from the creation of a base universe identical to that of the games and the series: the world is full of pokemons, those are the “animals” and the “pets” of that world, also there are competitions and pokeballs to catch them; however, gradually some screws of history are adjusted that make it more plausible for its film format, eliminating issues a little more drawn from the hairs such as the existence of Team Rocket (bad as we weigh), the apparently legal to enslave the pokémons to fight and the interference of human ambition in that formula. All these features allow us to slowly adapt to the idea of seeing a product that was always perfect for the lively world and suddenly makes a lot of sense in the act. In the third instance, the humor management of the film is brilliant, the jokes are formulated in layers and the majority travel the perfect limit between being able to be enjoyed by both an adult and a boy, the structure is not exceeded or limited , making the movie really enjoyable with a smile on his face most of the time.
Obviously not everything can be perfect and the movie has its small flaws. It is notorious how they take so long to start the substantial plot by making the first half of the movie the characters take too many turns to begin their true affairs. While it is logical that we need a character construction, perhaps the urgency is not handled with such flexibility to justify the slow takeoff. Another issue that I think contributes to this defect is the fact of the similarity of its characters at the beginning, where everyone behaves frantic and confused, making their arches a little tense and difficult to differentiate. In the same way, it is possible that the actions of Smith (Tim) and Newton (Lucy) are not the most fluid for our expectations, with this I do not say that they are bad actors, but they probably landed in these roles incorrectly and it turns out difficult to feel real identification of the actor with his character, on many occasions making them look crammed and unbelievable in terms of the emotion they are going through. Ryan Reynolds, in case they did not suspect him already, pilots with skill and only with his voice the rest of the film, saving the moments or even making those “chokes” more real. The end, on the other hand, confuses a bit since it has many predictable features but with unexpected surprise notes that contribute to it not being a bad outcome, but leaving the feeling that something was missing.
Regardless of all this, the film raises a subplot that never fails below the surface of detective action: a father's relationship with his son. Perhaps this formula never stops working, because it will be for all of us the reigning theme for the rest of our existences, unless the way of life of a family changes abruptly for other generations. This issue is very well treated in the movie, and brings out the best of actors and emotional development that may make us tear a tear as well.
For everything else, the film has a pleasant rhythm and even takes time to make us enjoy certain aesthetic and relaxing landscapes that pleasantly surprised me, as if whoever had thought of it in some way wanted to insert some poetry in the middle ... Long, someone caught the essence of a world full of natural beauty and cute little animals that instinctively protect and care for. Also, on a personal note, I applaud that they knew how to exploit the delusional magic of a character as funny as Psyduck, perhaps not as recognized as Pikachu, but without a doubt the axis of the best comic scenes of the film.
In short, maybe this is the hinge movie for the world of videogames, it is a ray of hope and the fundamental guide of all those who, in the future, think about adapting games like these to movies. Beyond seeing that it is a joy that has reached so much, it is also the kick to unite worlds that offer a more artistic look of something that was always seen only as a product.