Magical Friends Media Presents…

Gryll's Reviews and Rants

Episode 01: Detective Pikachu

Gryll waved to the nonexistent audience and said, "Hello, everyone! I'm Gryll, and this my review of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu!"

"But before we begin," she continued, sounding a little more serious, "I'd like to talk about the controversial history of movie adaptations for video games."

"So, in the 1990's, Hollywood was losing steam. They needed some fresh ideas, and fast. The moronic bigwigs that make up the film industry saw that the video game industry was booming, and they decided that making a movie out of a video game would be a great idea. So, in 1993, we were blessed with the release of Super Mario Bros, the movie."

"That is to say, it was disgraceful," Gryll frowned.

"The movie had little to no bearing on the existing canon; if anything, it just made the canon even worse. Plus, the design, writing, and overall representation of the characters were almost entirely off par. Also, I'm sure you can recall at least one hilariously stupid quote from the movie:

King Koopa (played by Dennis Hopper): Bob-Omb!

Luigi (played by John Leguizamo): [Mario's] been my mother my whole life!

King Koopa: Monkey!

King Koopa: Prepare for destiny! Where's my pizza?

Luigi: It's "Mario Mario" and "Luigi Mario."

Gryll stared awkwardly and said, "Yeah, not a very good movie, to say the least."

"And it only got worse from there. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Wing Commander, Lara Croft —Tomb Raider— the list goes on. It has become increasingly obvious that Hollywood is more interested in making video game movies in order to profit off them than making video game movies that are actually good."

"Luckily," she said, her face lightening up, "The Pokémon Company is not a part of Hollywood. Therefore, they actually put effort and thought into their films. Case in point: Detective Pikachu, our topic for today."

"Let's start with the positives. The movie actually did a decent job sticking to the original source material. Sure, I may have never played the game myself, but I at least read the story for the game on Bulbapedia, so you can trust me with this. In fact, I'd say the this movie expanded on some parts of the story in order to make it even better. I won't spoil too much of the plot, so those of you who haven't seen it will be able to enjoy this review. But I will say that I give this story an 18 out of 25.

"As for the visuals, I have one thing to say: they were fantastic. The scenery and the design of the city was stunning. The Pokémon designs were just fabulous. All of the effects and hidden easter eggs were so awesome that it makes you want to watch the movie again and analyze every single entire movie was just eye candy— the kind that gives you a sugar rush and leaves you bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day. I give the visuals a 22 out of 25."

"And finally, the characters. The movie did a great job portraying the characters from the game in a real-life environment. Justice Smith played a pretty good Tim Goodman, and of course, Ryan Reynolds just stole the show as Detective Pikachu. The Pokémon were portrayed pretty darn accurately, except maybe for Jigglypuff—"

"Look, I tried to ignore it," Gryll sighed, "but I feel like I've got to address it. Why did you think it would be a good idea to give Jigglypuff fur? It's the Balloon Pokémon! It's not supposed to have fur. Why… just why?"

"Personal preferences aside, though, the characters were played excellently, and I give that a 19 out of 25."

"And now, the negatives. The story was good, but I found a lot of it predictable. In fact, I literally correctly guessed who the twist villain was a half-hour before they were revealed. The visuals were beautiful, but like I addressed before, a few of the Pokémon designs were questionable or just plain dumb. I liked the characters, but when I said Ryan Reynolds stole the show, I actually meant it. He's such a screen hog. At least in Deadpool it was justifiable, since it was a part of his character, but here, it's as if Deadpool transformed into a Pikachu. That just took away from the performance for me."

"Overall, though, I'd say that Pokémon: Detective Pikachu was the best video game movie I've ever seen , and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves the Pokémon Pokemon franchise."

Gryll walked over to an electronic board and said, "Now, let's see this movie's final score:"

Plot: 18/25

Visuals/Effects: 22/25

Characters and Acting: 19/25

Mr. Mime-iness: 21/25

Total Score: 80/100

"Well, there you have it. I'm Gryll, this was my review of Detective Pikachu, and I hope you hated it."

Gryll tipped her hat and walked off to the left.

The End

Special Thanks

Illusion Fox Reviews by Matthais Unidostres

Kirby H by DokiDokiTsuna

Brain Dump by hotdiggetydemon

HAL Laboratory