Mainly spoiler absent Detective Pikachu opinion

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Loved the stylized takes on the actors in the credits illustration scene.

The 'Detective Pikachu' movie was a '2 and 1/2' star movie in an earnest, fun way which I would put on par w/'Jupiter ascending' and 'Valerian and the city of a thousand planets'.

Not that kind of sci-fi but (like the 2k14 Ninja turtles movie) still effortful in how the actors are coping to do their best in spite of somewhat vapid and hokey content that they have to work with and that's why I like it. Definitely 'going in the right direction' as far as Japanese content adaptations but not w/the same 'baseline' appeal of the Transformers or Godzilla. That takes time--and it's all to easy to flunk what fertile soil they have to work with. Mentions of other regions from the main Pokemon series abound and I don't like the idea of rushing into this to somehow adapt the 'Gen I' storyline b/c of one success..there is a reason why it was *safer* to practise using a spin-off for adaptation.

Texture mapping Pokemon and enhancing for 'realism' is something they barely got by doing and it's a reason for why it seems somewhat hokey and why I worry not taking it seriously is why further adaptations are going to flounder. The landscape zooming for Justice Smith's intro was cool but I barely see that kind of cinematography or the current character designs/special effects as being able to justify something more 'animal involved/based' instead of the more 'Flintstone style use' in not very Pokebattle endorsing Ryme city.

Imagine if it had been Pokemon instead of irl animals had been present/substituting in movies like 'The revenant', 'Life of Pi', 'War horse' , 'A dog's journey' or 'Pet sementary'. You can't?: we are not there yet and for good reason. It takes not only ppl who (given there age) have been exposed to Pokemon but ppl who take the subtext deeply, Japanese or not or else the risk of letting ppl down w/something underwhelming and/or generic is so excessive for something which can mean so much fun (think 'Dragonball evolution' or what might happen once the live action 'Sonic the hedgehog' movie comes out). This applies to any attempt on the 'travel and overcome gym leaders, elite four and champion' formula or the 'overcome organized crime group hassling a legendary' stories. 'The best' of what Pokemon battles could be was brought out during the sequence of a Blastoise v. Gengar match (competitive battles and even Pokeballs are apparently not allowed in Ryme city, specifically) and I am curious to see if a full 6 on 6 battle would pass on screen without the 'super-powered animal baiting' vibe the franchise is undeniably based on, seeping through at least with consequences/ a message**.

Adapting 'the mystery dungeon' games could make for an interesting experiment at this point than going for (in a series or movie(s)) takes on the main-line games. I suppose the movie was predictable in it's own ways not the least b/c of how kind of rushed things felt at time* and it kind of goes to show how it not like for now writers of say late 80's to 90's crime and neo-noire movies have anything to say about Pokemon or giving it try but you have to play a 'careful chess game' to make young movie-makers gradually emerge and be drawn in enough to try something. Personally, I don't really like how Ryan Reynolds capitalized on 'just being himself while frivolous' in his take on Detective Pikachu but it works and it 'kind of has to' for a twist near the end..it floats but we can't run on the fumes of the 'Deadpool' movie esp. as we enter a 'Phase 4' MCU with no Stan Lee and Disney having Fox under their umbrella to an extent. Reynolds has learned since 'Green lantern'.

'Warcraft' was overly ambitious as far as video game adaptations go but like we are apparently now learning w/'Star wars' DON'T ask to rush producers for another Pokemon movie anymore than you see pressuring for '007' movies.

Go out and pay the 'opportunity/ticket' cost as an earnest anime supporter or wait for an enjoyable Netflix release to talk about after several months of talking going about: your choice.

*speaking of which, not really a spoiler but nearing the end Tim (Justice Smith) sees Pickahu falling from a height level on par with the several stories he probably is in a building and meets up w/him just barely after Mewtwo saves him from a fall.. 'seriously how did he get downstairs so fast?' is one thing my not very plot-hole keen mind is still thinking about. One possible point the 'HISHE' channel take might cover.

** makes me feel like watching the 'Honest trailer' take on 'the first movie' sometime.

Out of pity, I mean to work alongside my dad tomorrow; I watched this movie as an 'anesthetic' to a library page position job interview I did not want to mull over for being about as 'warm and banal'/'fine' as the previous and fruitless one.

Important: *no* after-credits scene; should have stated it before.

My husband and I are both 42. We took our 5 year old to see this movie after much begging. We know nothing about “pokie-mans” as we keep accidentally calling them.

For me, this movie was much like seeing “The Passion of the Christ” years ago as a non religious person. Well done, a nice looking movie, but confusing. Left me with some questions.

1- What is the purpose of the Pokémon’s in this city? Are they like dogs and cats or are they supposed to be like humans? Supposedly they don’t fight anymore, so what do they do for work now?

2- Is there only one of each type? Like when they saw those turtles they were like, oh its those turtleS I’ve never seen THEM look that way before. And then there was a balloon for Pikachu, but we never saw another one of him. Is he like a famous one and there’s just one, or are there multiple pikachu? PikachuS?

3-Is this main dude like a failure because he didn’t have a Pokémon? Is everyone supposed to have one? Does anyone have more than one?

Just wondering. Not trying to have a real life discussion with anyone about this, so I thought I’d ask here.

xD...that made me chuckle on so many levels..

Incoming spoilers of sorts



Ryme city, the main setting of the movie specifically isn't like most the cities throughout the 'Pokemon world' regions of the past ~+20 yrs. As Howard Clifford explained near the beginning of the movie sometime while Tim is taking a train, he designed the city as a place where they can 'more harmonious and as one' with humans (a pretext for fusing bodies as it turns out) outside of the competitive battle circuits/activities of other regions. Throughout the franchise when Pokemon don't competitively battle they mainly are either pets or are kept active in task like roles kind of like the animals on 'the Flintstones'. This is something which could be seen with the Machamp directing traffic, the Braviary delivering (construction supplies(?)) to someone working on a crane and the Ludicolo cafe barista.



Oh no. '*Legendary*' Pokemon are called that for that reason but for the most part that isn't usually the case that there is most often not 'only one of each type' . There are many different categories/species of Pokemon: for instance you might have noticed the large blue turtle with water cannons in the underground battle club (Blastoise) as well as the more ankylosaurus like turtles with Bonsai trees on their backs (Torterras) like at the secret labs. The idea of *giant* sized Torterras was an original idea in the movie and a 'surprise' I kind of found neat/liked. There are very much multiple Pokemon of a single species and they sometime form animal social groups (the Bouffalant, the Aipoms and Bulbasaurs, if you noticed). This includes Pikachus, albeit the title character if you remember was the one usually with Tim's father Harry while doing police work serving as 'partner' (in contrast to the usual 'police dog' Growlithes) who had his body fused with Harry's mind, while Mewtwo was (apparently healing(?)--in hindsight that doesn't seem as clear to me), Tim's father after the car went off a bridge when the 'Greninja' ninja frogs were chasing them after escaping the lab.



Tim ('the main dude') wasn't a failure for not having Pokemon. He had issues with Pokemon and having them after his father left when he was younger to work in the more 'humans and Pokemon coexisting peacefully' focused Ryme city. Hence his interest in becoming a Pokemon trainer (who usually have more than one Pokemon with them) waned.

Not everyone is suppose to have one. Goodness, knows there are plenty who on a mundane basis interact with Pokemon in an 'animal labour in the Flintstones' kind of way but don't have/live with any of their own. There are indeed ppl who have more than one Pokemon. As per franchise norm, most ppl would have a maximum of 6 on their person. Most of those persons are trainers and more commonly have their six Pokemon inside the storage devices known as 'Pokeballs' rather than walking along-side them (again, Ryme city is an exception that way). When you go beyond attaining more than 6, Pokemon caught in Pokeballs are usually transported to a research area where you can choose and pick them out later on.



Honestly, I know that ppl on this site have very real issues but I find it 'depressing' that you were 'left hanging' with your questions. I handed in a signed job acceptance form earlier today and with my employment related concerns simmered down, I finally have enough time to answer. I do realize how you may very well not read this SocOfAutism.