Detective Pikachu Looks Fine

I had the best Pokémon team you could build from the first generation. Mew and Mewtwo—obviously ridiculous. Charizard that I raised from the start and loved. Articuno for the ice storms. Gyarados even though it was born a useless Magikarp. Dragonite because in an actual fight, Pikachu and Eevee are cute but unreliable, no matter how much you care about them.

When they announced a live-action Detective Pikachu film I thought it was the worst idea possible. A 3D Pikachu with Ryan Reynolds’ voice solving crimes in a world of regular humans and Pokémon? Why would I want that when I could just rewatch the anime? The early seasons with Ash and Misty and Brock are perfect. That’s comfort. That’s home.

I went into the first trailer ready to hate it. And then the world looked actually interesting. Pikachu came across as charming. Justice Smith seemed like a decent actor playing a guy looking for his missing father. It’s based on the video game, coming out in 2019.

I’m not suddenly hyped. But I’m also not dismissing it. My only real demand is that Mew, Mewtwo, Charizard, Articuno, Gyarados, and Dragonite better show up. If they don’t, I’m taking back everything nice I just said.