After a detective mysteriously disappears during a case the detective’s son, Tim (Justice Smith), takes it upon himself to investigate further. Thankfully Tim doesn’t have to do this alone. You see, in the present day of this film, Pokémon characters live with humans, and they are partnered up with one another. But Tim for personal reason doesn’t have a Pokémon by his side until he meets a cute little yellow character known as Pikachu.

I’m not by any means a Pokémon fan nor have I ever really watched the cartoon! But by popular demand, I agreed to watch this film to review. To my surprise, this is an enjoyable family film even if you know nothing about Pokémon. The film thankfully gives it’s audience a quick rundown of the film’s world as well as an understanding on what Pokémon are and what they do on Earth. This type of quick setup/introduction was perfect for non-Pokémon fans.

What makes this film entertaining is the fairly interesting mystery, meaning that naturally, an audience of any age will be curious to journey with Tim, even more so once Tim is introduced to Pikachu which is voiced by funnyman Ryan Reynolds.

I found Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu enjoyable. He delivers the typical type of humour for him as an actor with many quick and random one-liners. The appearance of Pikachu as a character on screen is also done well and credit to the CGI department (because as my wife said “Pikachu is cute”).

The film makes creative use of colours, almost like a cartoon. Each character, location or situation has a strong colour tone, and it’s done well from a visual point of view.

As a plot, while the mystery and disappearance of Tim’s father was tricky to work out, I will admit the film’s villain was far too predictable, but hey, it’s a family film right?

Overall, considering I’m not a Pokémon fan, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. It’s light-hearted family entertainment with a few twists and turns. The film gives an excellent setup for non-Pokémon fans along with the film’s leading characters being enjoyable on-screen (Particularly Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds).

7.0/10

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Review Written by Peter Walkden