So, to be honest, I’m coming into this movie woefully unprepared: my knowledge of Pokémon is limited to a sticker book I had as a kid, and a few animated movies that I used to watch – though, granted, I watched those movies a lot, and they were quite good. Back then, when I was about ten, I could probably recite the names and skill-sets of about twenty different Pokémon off the top of my head. Now…well, I know there’s Pikachu, and…
(I’m being too harsh on myself, honestly. I did remember Mewtwo when he appeared in the trailer, even if I didn’t necessarily remember his name.)
But anyway – so, aside from the fact that I really don’t know any most of the Pokémon, I think the trailer looks pretty appealing. It doesn’t strike me as anything too fantastic, yet: Ryan Reynolds’ Pikachu is undoubtedly the main draw for me – there’s something irresistibly intriguing about this new take on the fuzzy yellow critter (plus, hearing Pikachu say “hell” is somewhat endearing). This second trailer is definitely more interesting than the first, for me – here, we see some sort of secret laboratory being teased, which looks quite exciting, and the story takes more shape: we learn that Pikachu is suffering from amnesia (huh?), and the whole reason for him being a detective is given a bit more explanation. The Snorlax at 0:40 is absolutely adorable – more adorable than Pikachu, I’d almost dare to admit. We’ve got the Mewtwo reveal at 2:04, accompanied by Pikachu exclaiming “That’s a twist”. There are definitely things here that make me interested, but I’m not yet hooked to the point where I need to see this movie. It’s odd: I know Pokémon was a large part of my childhood, and, as I said, I loved the animated movies, but this doesn’t give me those types of vibes. Maybe it’s the transition to live-action and the more generic Hollywood feel to this story. Anyway, I’m interested to see more from this movie – I need something to really draw me in, and I’m not quite there yet.
Trailer Rating: 7/10
