From its surprising cast to the slightly risqué PG rating and its innovative shooting style,
there are more than a few things you should know before you pick up your ticket to Detective
Pikachu.
Here's all the background you need on the world-famous Pokémon, the movie's unique
setting, and more.
If you're not familiar with the world of Pokémon, you might want to brush up before you head
into Detective Pikachu.
Known as "Pocket Monsters" in its home country of Japan, this series of video games came
to the United States in 1998 with Pokémon Red and Blue for the Nintendo Game Boy, and
sold more copies than any other Game Boy game besides Tetris.
These blockbuster beginnings laid the groundwork for a massive multimedia franchise, which
continued on to the Game Boy Advance all the way up to the Nintendo Switch, with plenty
of spinoffs and tie-ins coming in along the way.
Between video games, movies, TV shows, a popular trading card series and more, Pokémon has
secured its spot as the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, but it all starts with
the games.
In the main game series, players take on the roles of Pokémon trainers, capturing wild
animal-monster hybrids that roam the world.
These weaponized pets then get used in battles with other trainers players encounter along
their journeys, as well as competitive Gym Leaders, elite trainers, and even evil gangs
and corporations, from Pokémon Red and Blue's Team Rocket to Pokémon Sun and Moon's Team
Skull.
But for the most part, the games have always come down to one goal: getting out in the
tall grass, hunting for Pokemon, and catching 'em all.
Before Detective Pikachu referred to the live-action movie, it was simply one of the franchise's
many spinoff video games.
Released in 2018 for Nintendo's 3DS, Detective Pikachu broke away from the loose narratives
and gameplay of the original games, setting aside Gym badges and Pokémon catching to
focus instead on the story of a special talking Pikachu, a type of "electric mouse" that is
arguably the franchise's most famous type of Pokémon.
In the game, the pocket monster teams up with a young boy, Tim Goodman, who is the only
person who can understand Pikachu when he speaks.
Together, the two team up to search for Tim's missing father and get to the bottom of a
sinister conspiracy.
As Tim, Detective Pikachu lets the player solve mysteries with their own talking Pikachu,
evoking adventures from the Pokémon anime series.
The game received mixed reviews, but some critics noted that it might make a better
movie than video game.
Speaking of video games, the movie also evokes the feel of Pokémon Yellow, one of the series'
first games.
That unique take on Pokemon Red and Blue's base game greatly increased the emphasis on
the player's relationship with their starter Pokemon, in this case, a Pikachu who followed
behind you as you moved throughout the game.
Though there have been plenty of animated Pokémon movies over the decades, Detective
Pikachu marks the franchise's first live-action film, adapting the story of a relatively new
game.
Some longtime Pokémon fans were likely curious about why this first live-action movie would
choose to focus on such a recent story rather than continue the adventures of Ash, Misty,
and Brock from the cartoon series or original films.
Director Rob Letterman has opened up about this decision, saying he wanted this film
to be set apart from what came before and tell a story that felt new, especially considering
how many animated films have already focused on the adventures of Ash Ketchum and friends.
Thanks to the live actors, a film noir feel, and strikingly lifelike CGI Pokémon, Detective
Pikachu should be able to make its mark on the franchise with a totally fresh look and
not a lot of baggage.
It will also be geared toward audiences of both adults and children, with a PG rating
setting it apart from the typically G-rated animated films.
That way, parents and grown-up Pokémon nostalgics should be able to enjoy the movie just as
much as the kids in the crowd.
"Another round, extra shot, black as night.
Thank you sweetie."
"LUDICOLO!!!!!"
Plenty of familiar faces are featured in Detective Pikachu, including actors like Bill Nighy,
Chris Geere, and Ken Watanabe.
But one performer you might not know yet is Justice Smith, who plays the leading role
of Tim Goodman.
"Stop talking!
You're a hallucination!"
"You're a hallucination."
As an actor, Smith has a small but impressive resume, getting his start in television before
landing a supporting role in 2015's Paper Towns, an adaptation of a popular young adult
novel by John Green.
"Each Pokemon to understand the power that's inside...
Pokemon!"
After that breakout, Smith found more success when Baz Luhrmann cast him as the lead in
the ambitious Netflix series The Get Down.
His largest pre-Pikachu role came in 2018 with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
There, the actor played Franklin Webb, a computer tech and hacker who helps track the dinosaurs
that have spread across the park.
Now, with all the buzz that Detective Pikachu is generating, it looks pretty likely that
this young actor's career is set to evolve to the next level.
"Turtle."
"Squirtle."
"Turtleman.
Squirtle!"
Don't be fooled by the name of Detective Pikachu.
After all, that's technically just the subtitle.
The film also features plenty of other Pokémon to remember and recognize.
This includes creatures from the series' later generations, like Aipom, Morelull, and Emolga,
but the most recognizable will likely be some of the original 151.
The three starting Pokémon from the series' first generation, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and
Charmander are all there, as well other favorites such as Mr. Mime and Jigglypuff.
"Enough with the games, say it…
Just say it!"
Just like in the games, many Pokémon won't be spotted out in the wild, but rather as
companions to other human characters.
Lucy Stevens, a reporter who helps Tim solve mysteries in the movie, is accompanied by
her own personal Pokémon, a loyal Psyduck.
One of the buzziest aspects of Detective Pikachu is the unexpected voice behind the cuddly
creature.
It's a hard thing to get right, how do you win over audiences with an English-speaking
version of a famous electric mouse mostly known for squeaking his own name?
"You can hear him, right?"
"Pika pika!"
"Yeah!
Pika pika pika!"
While plenty of actors might come to mind, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds ended up snagging
the role, beating out equally off-the-wall actor choices like Hugh Jackman, Dwayne "The
Rock" Johnson, and Danny Devito.
But as the trailers have demonstrated, Reynolds' take on the capable, witty, and slightly-bewildered
Detective Pikachu kind of makes sense.
Thanks to his dry sense of humor and irony, which viewers have proven themselves to love
so much in Deadpool, Reynolds is turning out to be an inspired choice to play this irreverent,
yet brilliant Pikachu.
"Oh my God, you can understand me!"
"Stop."
"I've been so lonely!"
Though Reynolds had a rough few years as an actor, appearing in several box office flops,
his career was completely revived by 2016's Deadpool.
Since playing the foul-mouthed, deeply sarcastic superhero, he's fully returned to Hollywood's
A-list.
Now he's offering a new take on Pikachu that could potentially help to make the mighty
mouse more popular than ever.
In November 2018, some lucky viewers got the chance to see a test screening of Detective
Pikachu, and early reactions have apparently been quite positive.
Audiences have specifically praised Reynolds' voice acting and his chemistry with star Justice
Smith.
The movie's CGI effects also earned some praise, with viewers describing them as being extremely
lifelike even though they weren't quite finished yet.
Test screenings that followed this first rollout have also reportedly garnered positive responses.
What all of this means for Detective Pikachu, besides potentially good reviews and box office
success, is that it could also hold the rare distinction of being a well-received live-action
video game movie, a feat which has often seemed impossible for Hollywood to pull off.
From infamously bad films like Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter to more recent,
ill-advised efforts such as Assassin's Creed and Warcraft, video game movies are pretty
much known for being terrible.
But it's looking quite possible that Detective Pikachu could break the mold by becoming one
of the first live-action movies based off a video game to earn widespread audience and
critical acclaim.
Thanks to its innovative CGI work, audiences might expect that Detective Pikachu was shot
with a heavy emphasis on motion-capture suits and green screen.
But as star Justice Smith told New York Magazine, that definitely wasn't the case.
According to Smith, the production made a point of shooting on location as much as possible,
using actual environments to help enhance the reality of this live-action Pokemon world.
Filming took place in both London and Scotland, keeping green screens to a minimum and using
the locations' natural beauty and urban backdrops to great effect.
Director Rob Letterman reportedly wanted to juxtapose the fantastical world of Pokémon
against a gritty urban landscape to make the creatures, according to Smith, "pop more."
Also helping add to the distinctive look of the movie is the fact that it was shot on
film, with the naturally grainy quality helping to make the movie feel like a realistic and
gritty film noir.
It's the sort of small detail you might not have noticed on its own: instead, viewers
are just left with the impression that the movie looks way more realistic than they may
have expected.
In this way and others, Detective Pikachu will visibly set itself apart from any of
its animated predecessors in the Pokemon series, perhaps laying the track for a whole new tradition
for the franchise on the big screen.
When the first trailer for Detective Pikachu dropped in November 2018, audiences were both
confused and delighted.
Compared to every other Pokemon property, it looked very different, but it also had
a lot of charm.
The first appearance of the title character, combining the cutesy look of Pikachu with
the quippy Ryan Reynolds, went over with viewers surprisingly well.
Before long, a curious consensus started growing: maybe the filmmakers had something here.
The first trailer introduced the basic story of Pikachu and Tim's quest to find his missing
father, but it also made sure viewers got glimpses of other Pokémon.
It also made it clear that this Pikachu would be a slightly more grown-up iteration of the
beloved children's character, getting adult fans who grew up with the series more interested
in the movie than they might have expected they would be.
The second trailer, released in February 2019, featured even more Pokémon alongside Pikachu,
including the first glimpse of Mewtwo, the menacing and hyper-intelligent Pokemon who
headlined the series' first animated movie in 1998.
The excitement and acclaim that Detective Pikachu's first trailers kicked up has clearly
been encouraging to the people behind the movie.
Ahead of the film's release, it's already been announced that there's a sequel in the
works, with a script being written by Oren Uziel, best known for his writing credits
on 22 Jump Street, The Cloverfield Paradox, and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog.
Whether or not the director or stars would return for a sequel, or what a sequel to the
movie would even be about, it's still up in the air.
But if Detective Pikachu does well enough with audiences at the box office, especially
against the summer movie juggernaut of Avengers: Endgame, we wouldn't be surprised if it kicked
off a whole new cinematic universe of live-action Pokemon adventures.
For a movie this off-the-wall and unexpected, that'd be a pretty shocking result.
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