Alongside the development of ‘Detective Pikachu’ for the Nintendo 3DS, it was announced that film studio Legendary Pictures had obtained the rights for a movie adaptation of the game. Many fans were skeptical of the idea of a feature-length, live action Pokémon movie, especially with a talking Pikachu. After the release of the game, the movie was mostly forgotten by the gaming public. Until yesterday.
On Monday, Legendary released the first trailer for ‘Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,’ and it’s as uncanny as you’d expect live-action Pokémon to be. The film follows the same general story as the game, with protagonist Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) coming to Ryme City to search for clues about his father’s disappearance. In the city, he meets a Pikachu whose speech he can understand (Ryan Reynolds) who happened to be his father’s Pokémon partner. The two team up in search of the truth while bonding along the way. This will be the first live-action Pokémon film, with all of the monsters rendered in CG. From Pikachu’s cuddly fluffiness to Mr. Mime’s creepy bald head and dodgeball-shaped shoulders, it must be seen to be believed.
The film is set to hit theaters this Summer on May 10th, 2019. I guess it’s a good thing I never played ‘Detective Pikachu,’ because now I have a more interesting way of seeing the story.
