Advertisement

'Detective Pikachu' movie trailer offers a look at 'lifelike' Pokémon

The video game adaptation shows at least a little promise.

After years of build-up, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for the Detective Pikachu movie... and it's promising, if also slightly disconcerting. The movie follows the basic thread of the game, with young Tim meeting a Pikachu he can actually understand as they embark on a quest to find Tim's dad. To say the live-action movie has a different feel than the 3DS/2DS title would be an understatement, though. The creators have gone for a "realistic" look for Pokémon, and you're probably going to find it either very appropriate or decidedly weird.

The movie does show some promise. Ryan Reynolds seems well-suited as Detective Pikachu, keeping that gruff, cynical (but family-friendly) tone from the game. And it's not trying too hard to be clever or cute. There's no guarantee the full movie will be exciting when it arrives in 2019, but what's here suggests it might be more enjoyable than some video game adaptations -- certainly better than the legendarily bad Super Mario Bros. movie.