Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
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- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- The incredible score for Pokémon Detective Pikachu was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- Before Ryan Reynolds was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a 2019 American fantasy mystery film directed by Rob Letterman, the first live-action Pokémon film. Justice Smith stars as Tim Goodman, a former Pokémon trainer who travels to Ryme City — a metropolis where humans and Pokémon coexist — to investigate the disappearance of his detective father. Tim discovers his father's partner Pikachu, voiced by Ryan Reynolds, whom only Tim can understand speaking English.
Together they investigate a conspiracy involving a dangerous purple gas that makes Pokémon go berserk. Ryan Reynolds's voice performance as the wisecracking, coffee-addicted Pikachu was the film's primary draw, bringing his Deadpool comedic sensibility to a family-friendly context. The visual effects that placed photorealistic Pokémon into a real-world setting were impressive, creating recognizable creatures that felt both familiar and new.
Detective Pikachu earned $433 million worldwide on a $150 million budget and was the highest-grossing video game adaptation until The Super Mario Bros. Movie surpassed it.
