Metacritic score: 53 out of 100
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
The noir-style spin on a Pokémon story is currently in theaters.
Alissa Wilkinson covered film and culture for Vox. Alissa is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is one of the more unlikely movies to hit the theaters recently, and the premise sounds sort of like it was cooked up in a state of delirium. Tim (Justice Smith) teams up with Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds), who is somewhat inexplicably a detective, to solve a big mystery involving nefarious plots and Pokémon, with a strong assist from a budding reporter named Lucy (Kathryn Newton).
Set in a shadowy underworld that seems drawn straight from noir and sci-fi (particularly Blade Runner, believe it or not), Pokémon Detective Pikachu is not exactly a triumph of cinema, but it’s a lot better than it has any right to be. You don’t have to know anything about Pokémon to enjoy the film, which is strangely touching and genuinely funny — and the fact that Pikachu is incredibly cute doesn’t hurt.
