...no, seriously. What else do I even have to say? You're either like me and you uttered this sentence either right before or right after viewing this trailer or you were wrong.
...I mean, you legitimately think that this isn't a good idea.
...and you're wrong.
For those of you who have been living under a rock since the late 90s, Pokémon is a world-wide phenomenon that is literally bug catching on steroids! It's had an anime that continues running to this day, as well as multiple series of video games (some of which I've covered on this very blog - hint hint give me page clicks hint hint), a trading card game, and various other bits of merchandise that have spanned for over twenty years and maintained a very active and fervent in that time. This has also included movies...but they've all been animated...until now.
Really, it seems like a live-action movie would be a no-brainer. With CGI, you could easily bring the adorable (and not so adorable) creatures of the Pokémon world into the real world. The epic story of a young boy or girl leaving their home at the obviously very adult age of ten to go about beating up other people's furry creatures with their furry creatures for money and eventually becoming the very best like no one ever was is something that could very easily work on the big screen.
...so instead, they go for a story that has nothing to do with that of the games.
To be fair, I see why they would do that - that story has already been told. Literally every time someone boots up a Pokémon game, they make their own way in that story. To paraphrase Linkara of Atop The Fourth Wall, it really is surprising that Pokémon has continued to exist with virtually no real change in its core mechanics for the better part of two decades at the time of this writing. This movie is inspired by one such game, not of the core games, which shows that Nintendo and others have some interest in trying something a little different from the mainstream concept of Pokémon.
But what is going on? Well, from the trailer we have Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), a young man who wanted to be a Pokémon trainer but couldn't for reasons that are not fully given in the trailer. His father is missing and, in his search for him, he befriends a Deadpool-voiced Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) who only he can hear speaking English. To everyone else in the world, the Pikachu speaks in the traditional use of its own name that most Pokémon are known for.
Other than that, we're short on plot. We do get some scenes that have already gotten some criticisms from the peanut gallery - namely that the CGI'd Pokémon are pure nightmare fuel...and yeah, I have to agree their are a couple of instances where it's a bit unsettling. Pikachu looks adorable, but then you get to the likes of Charizard or Jigglypuff that just look...wrong. I know it's not going to be a perfect translation, but then you have weird things like why does Charizard have fur?
He's a giant lizard. That breathes fire.
Why does he have fur?
...this isn't a joke, it really bothers me.
To not lack seriousness for a moment, however, I do think this concept has a lot of potential and - if done well - could be a very enjoyable popcorn film. I really don't think it needs to be anything more than just that. I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing it.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is set to come out in theaters on May 10, 2019 from Legendary Entertainment, Toho, the Pokemon Company, and Warner Bros.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
No comments:
Post a Comment