Pika, pika.
Ryan Reynolds is the voice of Detective Pikachu in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
Photo Credit: Warner Bros.
The first-ever live-action Pokemon movie — Pokemon: Detective Pikachu — is almost here. Set in a fictional city where humans and Pokemon live side-by-side in peace and starring Deadpool lead Ryan Reynolds as a talking Pikachu, the film is about a 21-year-old named Tim Goodman (Justice Smith, from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) who sets out with the famous Pokemon to investigate what happened to Tim's father, an ace detective himself. Along for the ride are a junior reporter called Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton, from Gary Unmarried) and her companion Pokemon, Psyduck. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu has been directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps).
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Japanese cinemagoers will be the first to see Detective Pikachu, where it opened Friday, May 3.
Starting Wednesday, May 8, Detective Pikachu will move to Belgium, France, Indonesia, Netherlands, and Sweden. It then opens Thursday, May 9 in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, and Ukraine.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu will release Friday, May 10 in India, the US, Cambodia, Lithuania, Norway, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. It's out Thursday, May 16 in Russia and Serbia, Friday, May 31 in Poland, Friday, June 7 in Romania, Thursday, June 13 in Greece, Sunday, June 16 in Australia, Sunday, June 23 in Chile, and Wednesday, July 31 in Madagascar.
“The story begins when ace detective 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 Pokémon 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 Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.”
In addition to the aforementioned Reynolds, Smith and Newton, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu also stars Ken Watanabe (Inception) as Lt. Yoshida, a veteran detective in the Ryme City police and a friend of Harry's, Omar Chaparro (No Manches Frida) as a Pokemon trainer who runs a battle arena, and Paul Kitson as Harry Goodman, Tim's missing father.
Suki Waterhouse (The Bad Batch), Chris Geere (You're the Worst), Bill Nighy (Love Actually), singer-songwriter Rita Ora, Rob Delaney (Catastrophe), and Khary Payton (The Walking Dead) have been cast in undisclosed live-action roles. Reynolds' Deadpool co-star Karan Soni stars as a guy named Jack.
American DJ Diplo guest stars as himself, and Japanese actor Ryoma Takeuchi has a cameo as a Pokemon trainer.
Warner Bros. released the first trailer for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu in November last year, giving us our first look at Reynolds voicing a Pokemon. We thought it was weird. A second trailer was released towards the end of February. Reynolds released a TV spot timed for Earth Day late in April, followed by another TV spot from Warner Bros. soon after.
Oh boy, quite a lot. Here are the ones we have glimpsed — and been able to identify — from the trailers: Charmander, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Mewtwo, Jigglypuff, Mr. Mime, Snorlax, Machamp, Haunter, Cubone, the three-headed Dodrio, the frog-like Greninja, the green-coloured, hat-wearing Ludicolo, the fox-like Flareon, the eagle-like Braviary, the panda-like Pancham and its evolved version Pangoro, the bulldog-like Snubbull, and the monkey-like Aipom.
And of course, the aforementioned Pikachu and Psyduck.
Warner Bros. usually opens ticket sales on Tuesday or Wednesday in India, and we expect that to be the case for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu as well.
Early reviews are already out. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu currently holds a 69 percent fresh rating on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a middling 49 score on Metacritic.
Warner Bros. has already begun preparation for a sequel to Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, having reportedly hired Oren Uziel, a co-writer on 22 Jump Street, back in January to script the film.
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