I have never been all that invested in the Pokémon phenomenon. If you go back through the archives on this blog, you'll see that I've been doing this stuff since 2011. And despite a few detours, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that this has been pretty much my sole focus through those years. However, this doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar with the world of Pokémon- it was just always my brother's primary domain. He watches the shows, plays the video games, and he's even pretty damn good at the popular trading card game. When Pokémon Go! came out a few years ago, my brother and dad religiously wandered the streets, looking for new characters to catch. Gotta catch 'em all, right? I thought it was kinda silly, but through the years, I gained a subtle knowledge of how the world of Pokémon works. So going into next year's Pokémon Detective Pikachu, I won't be totally in the dark- and that's a good thing. After the success of the app, Warner Bros. and Legendary pushed forward with the first live-action adaptation of these characters. Earlier today, the first trailer hit the web- watch it below!
Okay, so the reason I added all that background on my history with Pokémon in the first paragraph was to preface my initial reaction to this trailer. In short- I felt weirdly nostalgic watching this? Obviously this isn't quite the Pokémon adaptation I imagine my brother and fellow fans were hoping for, but it's still kind of thrilling to watch this world come to life on the big screen. Even as someone who wouldn't exactly be labeled as a fan of this franchise, I enjoyed seeing how many different characters I could spot on-screen.
But as my brother has pointed out to me, this isn't a straight Pokémon film- this is a strange take on a very specific sub-story in the universe where Pikachu is a detective. It's decidedly odd, and it's even weirder that Warner Bros. and director Rob Letterman chose to have Deadpool icon Ryan Reynolds voice the character. That makes the whole thing feel like family-friendly Ted, which seems like a terrible idea on paper. Yet upon watching this trailer, I found myself surprisingly excited by the prospects of this journey. It looks like a fun dive into the Pokémon world, and I wouldn't be shocked if it brings us bigger adventures in the future. In a very, very unusual way, this almost looks like the noir pastiche I wanted The Happytime Murders to be. I didn't think I'd be so intrigued, but I'm all in.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu will be released on May 10, 2019.
Image: Warner Bros./IMDb
Okay, so the reason I added all that background on my history with Pokémon in the first paragraph was to preface my initial reaction to this trailer. In short- I felt weirdly nostalgic watching this? Obviously this isn't quite the Pokémon adaptation I imagine my brother and fellow fans were hoping for, but it's still kind of thrilling to watch this world come to life on the big screen. Even as someone who wouldn't exactly be labeled as a fan of this franchise, I enjoyed seeing how many different characters I could spot on-screen.
But as my brother has pointed out to me, this isn't a straight Pokémon film- this is a strange take on a very specific sub-story in the universe where Pikachu is a detective. It's decidedly odd, and it's even weirder that Warner Bros. and director Rob Letterman chose to have Deadpool icon Ryan Reynolds voice the character. That makes the whole thing feel like family-friendly Ted, which seems like a terrible idea on paper. Yet upon watching this trailer, I found myself surprisingly excited by the prospects of this journey. It looks like a fun dive into the Pokémon world, and I wouldn't be shocked if it brings us bigger adventures in the future. In a very, very unusual way, this almost looks like the noir pastiche I wanted The Happytime Murders to be. I didn't think I'd be so intrigued, but I'm all in.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu will be released on May 10, 2019.
Image: Warner Bros./IMDb
Comments
Post a Comment