At around 2:30am BST this morning the embargo lifted on Warner Bros. Detective Pikachu. You can read our 7.5/10 review of the movie here but what did other critics think of this latest video game adaption?
The movie currently holds a 71% fresh rating on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes with a consensus which reads:
Pokémon Detective Pikachu may not take its wonderfully bizarre premise as far as it could have, but this offbeat adaptation should catch most — if not all — of the franchise’s fans.
Here’s what some of the industry’s top critics thought of the movie.
The Guardian
The inspired casting of the Deadpool actor transforms this from an average Pokémon movie into fun family fare. [3/5]
The Hollywood Reporter
Still, there’s enough here to please both Pokemaniacs and the Poke-non.
Variety
Its box office should demonstrate fans’ hunger for a more robust big-screen version of the Pokémon universe, while the disappointment needn’t dissuade another team from coming along and doing it right.
Entertainment Weekly
The main problem is that the film’s gumball-mayhem plot is so frenetic that it’s impossible to determine if it makes a lick of sense. [C+]
USA Today
Your feelings about “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” probably hinge on if you can tell a Squirtle from a Bulbasaur. No? Then you might not care one Jigglypuff. [2/4]
Total Film
Reynolds and Pikachu make an inspired combo in a CGI/live-action mash-up that otherwise adheres to a rigidly boilerplate formula. [3/5]
The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery.
Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.
Detective Pikachu arrives in cinemas May 10, 2019. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton and Ken Watanabe.
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