{"id":1462,"date":"2019-05-06T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2019-05-06T12:47:11","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T03:47:11","slug":"pokemon-detective-pikachu-excels-at-twists-comedy-and-human-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/06\/pokemon-detective-pikachu-excels-at-twists-comedy-and-human-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"<i>Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu<\/i> Excels at Twists, Comedy, and Human Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it&#8217;s no real surprise that a live-action <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> movie would eventually be made&#8211;it being a billion dollar franchise and all&#8211;its doubtful anyone truly expected it would not be based on the main series of games but rather on the mystery spin-off <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But even more surprising than that is that this film not only reconstructs the overly camp world of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> perfectly but delivers a noir-style detective mystery full of excellent twists, turns, and legitimate family drama as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ryme City, the setting of the film, is an interesting mix of the expected and unexpected. It is most certainly a city in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> universe&#8211;Pok\u00e9mon are as plentiful as humans and are ingrained within every aspect of normal life. However, Ryme City has one major twist that makes it different from the larger world we see again and again in the games: pok\u00e9mon battles are illegal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What a Pikachu World\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wmnkAOO6Qo4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the film, this is explained as one man\u2019s attempt to make a utopia where pok\u00e9mon and humans are truly equal partners. Pok\u00e9mon are not pets to be utilized however the owner sees fit. Rather, both are people who have come to a deeper understanding that transcends words and work towards a common goal. However, that doesn\u2019t mean that a pok\u00e9mon can\u2019t live and work a job just fine without a human partner&#8211;or vice versa. It is an interesting concept and one that ties in well with the similar themes explored in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon Black\/White<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also lets the film dodge the most problematic aspect of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a whole: the ethics of the situation. If pok\u00e9mon are animals, then pok\u00e9mon battles can be viewed as akin to dog fighting in our world. If pok\u00e9mon are people, then they are basically <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rj_36yqITTc\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">slaves fighting in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Django<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-style slave fights<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Ryme City is set outside of this moral dilemma (at least in theory) which allows us to focus on the other aspects of the story&#8211;namely the mystery and human drama.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/D0WFYFuUYAA1tmk.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"  \/><em>Image source: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DetPikachuMovie\/status\/1100432904176381952\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">POK\u00c9MON Detective Pikachu<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the story of Tim&#8211;a lonely young man who travels from the boonies to Ryme City after the death of his estranged father. While trying to put his father\u2019s affairs in order, he is confronted by Lucy, an intern reporter who is trying to make a name for herself by investigating the murder of Tim\u2019s father, Harry. Tim also comes across a talking pikachu in a detective\u2019s hat that only Tim can seem to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tim is, for the lack of a better term, a man with serious father issues. With a workaholic detective father and a mother who passed away when he was still a kid, he has felt abandoned and alone for the majority of his life. While he clearly has a good relationship with his grandmother who took him in and raised him, he\u2019s not made the connections most other people have. He has few friends, no ambitions, and no pok\u00e9mon to share his life with. He has convinced himself that he is fine being alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, with the death of his father, Tim is forced to confront the fact that Harry was not the demon Tim set him up to be in his head. Harry had tried in the past to get Tim to move to Ryme City with him but was rebuffed by a child too hurt to trust him. Tim even discovers that his father was preparing to send him a second invitation upon his 21st birthday, hoping to bridge the gap even after all these years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This leaves Tim emotionally compromised&#8211;especially when he meets his father\u2019s pikachu and realizes that his father wasn\u2019t as alone as he had been in the years they had been apart. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Tim and Pikachu investigate Harry\u2019s murder, however, the two begin to bond. Both Tim and Pikachu are horribly isolated. Tim due to the aforementioned father issues and Pikachu due to amnesia and the fact that only Tim is able to understand him. Yet, as the two work their way through the mystery, they come to rely on each other as they learn little by little what kind of man Tim\u2019s father really was and what it means for both having lost him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"POK\u00c9MON Detective Pikachu - Destiny\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BRSAJdwiNcg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Tim and Pikachu\u2019s relationship&#8211;and the resulting drama in regards to Harry&#8211;is played completely straight, Lucy&#8211;and pretty much every other character in the film&#8211;chew the scenery like they\u2019re feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lucy is a brilliant kid with an ego to match her brains. Not content with her entry level job she is hot on the heels of a big scoop&#8211;even if its not technically what she was assigned to do. She is brash to the extreme and willing to break laws without a second thought to further her goals. The thing is, she\u2019s every bit as good as she thinks she is and makes a great foil for the timid and confused Tim&#8211;even if they almost seem like characters out of two different films.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pikachu uses... Foot Massage?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bo1YKTvM2Uc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason the over-the-top characters work even with all the seriousness in the personal story between Tim, Pikachu, and Harry, is because <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is largely a comedy. While kids will be laughing at the slapstick (and occasional potty) humor, adults are treated to Ryan Reynold\u2019s trademark <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deadpool<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-style running commentary. Pikachu has something to say about the absurdity of every situation they encounter&#8211;something doubly funny when you realize that only Tim (and the audience) are privy to his jokes. Now, that\u2019s not to say that all the jokes hit by any means, however, this is shotgun humor: as long as you blast out enough jokes in a wide enough spread, you\u2019re bound to hit most of the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surprisingly, even though <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> works as both a drama and a comedy, it also works as a mystery. From the start, we are given a tantalizing list of suspects: Howard Clifford, the creator of Ryme City; Roger Clifford, Howard\u2019s adult son and heir; Detective Yoshia, Harry\u2019s liaison with the police; and Mewtwo the artificially created, ridiculously powerful, psychic pok\u00e9mon. Then we are given twist after twist as the mystery unfolds. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with any good mystery, the film dishes out the clues in such a way so as to keep you on the same page as Tim and Lucy. Better still, as more clues appear older clues are put into a new context drastically changing how you (and Tim) interpret what has been uncovered so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"POK\u00c9MON Detective Pikachu - Official Trailer #1\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1roy4o4tqQM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The film also does a great job of tricking you visually into making assumptions&#8211;especially when it comes to the mystery surrounding why Pikachu and Tim are able to talk to each other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>**Massive Spoilers Begin**<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just before Tim and Pikachu meet for the first time, Tim is exposed to a mysterious chemical. While we see how pok\u00e9mon react to the drug (they go into a berserker rage), it\u2019s quite a while before we see how humans react to it. Thus, we are led to believe that the chemical is the cause of their communication&#8211;and forget why we made that assumption (thanks to constant action scenes and comedy) by the time we see that the drug actually has no effect on humans whatsoever. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now in other films, you\u2019d likely have a much easier time guessing the real reason why both thematically and narratively that Tim and Pikachu can communicate: Pikachu, at least as we get to know him, is actually Harry\u2019s soul in Pikachu\u2019s body. However, it\u2019s much harder to make that logical leap in this film for one major reason: you\u2019re a racist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now of course, I mean this jokingly. What the film does is use your real world knowledge to make you shy away from the conclusion that Pikachu and Tim are father and son. Simply put, Tim is black and Ryan Reynolds, the voice of Pikachu, is white. Thus, it&#8217;s quite possible for you to make the subconscious assumption that, due to the difference in skin color, Ryan Reynolds won\u2019t be Tim\u2019s father. But in the end, its simply shown that Tim\u2019s the child of an interracial marriage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s a great twist that both further normalizes the idea of interracial couples and helps to erase one of the more archaic ideas that still floats around in the collective consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011\u300c\u30df\u30e5\u30a6\u30c4\u30fc\u306e\u9006\u8972 EVOLUTION\u300d\u4e88\u544a2\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5DOJ1UQceb8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only other major thing to point out in the film is that it is filled with easter eggs&#8211;like every single frame is simply bursting with them. They\u2019re fun, enjoyable, and do not distract from the overall plot in the slightest&#8211;but that\u2019s all to be expected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I didn\u2019t expect is that this film is actually a stealth-sequel to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon: The First Movie<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Mewtwo present in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the Mewtwo from that film. It\u2019s stated that those events took place 10 years before this film. (The Japanese cut of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> even ends with a trailer for the upcoming remake of that film: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This adds a staggering amount of depth to Mewtwo as a character and explains why, even though he believes humanity to be evil, he would go out of his way to help Harry, Tim, and the citizens of Ryme city even after all that is done to him in the film. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>**Massive Spoilers End**<\/b><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"POK\u00c9MON Detective Pikachu - &quot;Big&quot; | In Theaters This May\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fOvwcxtMaNk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the end, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a surprisingly good film. It has great comedy, a good mystery, and a strong dramatic core about the strained relationship between a father and son. While aimed at children, there are more than enough Ryan Reynolds zingers to keep the adults happy&#8211;regardless of whether they are <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fans or not. And if you are a fan, this film is most certainly true to the spirit of the franchise and is filled with enough easter eggs to keep you captivated for many a rewatch in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was released in Japan on May 3, 2019. It will be released in North America on May 10, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><em>Top image source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bILE5BEyhdo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Warner Bros. Pictures<\/a> on YouTube<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/06\/pokemon-detective-pikachu-excels-at-twists-comedy-and-human-drama\/\">Click to Read<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&lt;i&gt;Pok\u00e9mon: Detective Pikachu&lt;\/i&gt; Excels at Twists, Comedy, and Human Drama<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[129,10],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pokemon","tag-review","excerpt","zoom","full-without-featured","even","excerpt-0"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/maxresdefault.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1464,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions\/1464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}