'POKÉMON Detective Pikachu' -- Furry Noir for Pokémon Fans

I never would have predicted an incredibly furry live-action Pokémon movie will be made, this soon. I, at least thought, the treatment would be the same as Warner Bros' Space Jam. But here we are, and to be honest, it shouldn't be no surprise as Pokémon continues to discover new fans all over the world. With the app PokémonGo and an upcoming new generation to be released later this year, there really is no sign of slowing down for this company, and on a second reflection, a live-action movie makes a lot of sense. Even if it turns out to be a little weird. Cute, but really weird.

Warner Bros. Pictures.

An alternative reality where Pokémon and humans coexist in one world is something every fan would love to see, and Detective Pikachu resides in that place exactly. Ryme City--a neon-lit metropolis where Squirtles help firefighters, Machamps are traffic enforcers, Loudreds are badass speakers, Jigglypuffs sing in bars where no one gets mad however bad they may be, and a furry Pikachu with a cap. In terms of world-building, this film is already A+. There's nothing more fun than watching a work of fiction about these monsters where one could spot every little detail of Pokémon almost everywhere in one screen.

But this isn't just about them. Humans are as important as they are in this world, and the neo-noir plot makes the human-monster interaction more interesting. It started when detective Harry Goodman suddenly goes missing, propelling his young adult son to search for what happened. In Ryme City, after a series of events, he met a Pikachu with an incredibly recognizable Ryan Reynolds voice only to realize that he's the only human who can talk to him. Pikachu speaks, and not without a reason

Written by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, director Rob Letterman and Derek Connolly, Detective Pikachu forms its concept with a brief but intense mysterious car chase scene involving Detective Goodman and a powerful Mewtwo right away. They then further establish Tim as a former Pokémon-loving kid by attempting (and failing) to catch a sobbing Cubone with his friend in the wild. The juxtaposition of these events kicks off a promising detective plot that's not too serious for kids, and not too inadequate for noir fans.

Warner Bros. Pictures.

It's brimming with energy, and the world they've created operates in endless possibilities that they could utilize not only in this film but in its future saga as well. So much that it felt like they left off a lot of their cute monsters for another Pokémon movie because it sure seemed like they were holding back a little even though they've already featured a lot--even shifting to a visually amazing disaster scene involving humongous Torterras, a Pokémon Smackdown arena with a livid Charizard, and a hidden laboratory experimenting with Pokévolutions.

It's not devoid of heart, though, as it wouldn't be a Pokémon movie without it. Like other recent blockbusters Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse and Shazam! to name a few, it has a touching family story. But ultimately, with the amount of fan-service this had, this is really about the fans. But the story is pretty much universal so non-Pokémon fans will be alright.