I still can’t believe we live in a world where there’s going to be a live-action Pokemon movie, but that world moved a bit closer to reality today with the release of the first trailer for Detective Pikachu.
Based on the 3DS game of the same name, Detective Pikachu stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular Pokemon, and Justice Smith as the only human being who can understand him (everyone else hears the customary “Pika Pika!”). They’re teaming up to find a missing private eye who also happens to be Smith’s father:
The story begins when ace private eye Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokemon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokemon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokemon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokemon universe.
The hyper-realistic style is not at all what I was expecting from a Pokemon movie, nor was I expecting to see Pikachu threaten to murder someone… and that happens twice! Also, what is Ken Watanabe doing in this trailer? He’s gotta be the bad guy, right?
I’ve never played a Pokemon game before, so I’m not the target audience for Detective Pikachu at all, but it actually looks kind of fun.
Detective Pikachu will open in theaters on May 11, 2019. I’m still as baffled by that as you are.
