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POKÉMON Detective Pikachu

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Detective Pikachu
名探偵ピカチュウ Great Detective Pikachu
Detective Pikachu movie poster 2.png
Premiere
Japan May 3, 2019
United States May 10, 2019
Home video
Japan October 30, 2019
United States July 23, 2019*
August 6, 2019*
English themes
Opening None
Ending Red & Blue Theme
Carry On
ELECTRICITY
Japanese themes
Opening None
Ending Red & Blue Theme
Carry On
ELECTRICITY
Ratings
United States PG
Great Britain PG
Ireland PG
Canada PG
Quebec G
Japan G
Germany 6
Australia PG
New Zealand PG

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu (Japanese: 名探偵ピカチュウ Great Detective Pikachu) is a live-action Pokémon movie focusing on the character Detective Pikachu, who was first introduced in the Nintendo 3DS game of the same name. It was released in Japanese theaters on May 3, 2019 and in North American theaters on May 10, 2019. The film was produced by Legendary Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. outside of Japan and Mainland China, where it was distributed by Toho and Legendary East, respectively.

The movie was first revealed in July 2016. Filming took place in London from January to May 2018. The logo and title for were revealed during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Championships on August 24, 2018.

Directed by Rob Letterman, Detective Pikachu is the first live-action film in the Pokémon franchise, in addition to CGI-animated Pokémon. The movie features Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Detective Pikachu, Justice Smith as Tim Goodman, and Kathryn Newton as Lucy Stevens.

Other posters and logos

  • Teaser poster

    Teaser poster

  • First poster

    First poster

  • Second poster

    Second poster

  • Third poster

    Third poster

  • Fourth poster

    Fourth poster

  • iTunes poster

    iTunes poster

  • Dolby Cinema poster by Aracely Muñoz

    Dolby Cinema poster by Aracely Muñoz

  • First Japanese poster

    First Japanese poster

  • Second Japanese poster

    Second Japanese poster

  • Japanese IMAX poster

    Japanese IMAX poster

  • English logo

    English logo

  • Japanese logo

    Japanese logo

Blurb

The story begins when ace private eye 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.

Plot

201
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
201

At the PCL, a remote laboratory in the mountains, Mewtwo awakens within a tank. Sensing the presence of a man somewhere outside, Mewtwo bursts free as the tank's containment protocols fail. The man flees the lab and drives away with Mewtwo in pursuit of his car, until an explosion apparently caused by Mewtwo throws the vehicle off a bridge.

Some time later, 21-year-old insurance salesman Tim Goodman is spending time with his friend Jack in their home of Leaventown. Jack brings Tim to a field in search of wild Pokémon despite Tim's protestations that he does not need a Pokémon partner. Tim, who gave up being a Trainer after the death of his mother and alienation from his father, eventually gives in and attempts to capture a wild Cubone. His attempt fails and the Cubone chases Tim and Jack away. Back in Leaventown, Tim receives a phone call informing him that his father Harry has died as a result of the car crash.

Tim meets Detective Pikachu

Tim travels to Ryme City to place Harry's affairs in order. En route aboard a train, he and the other passengers are shown a public service video explaining the city's history: billionaire tycoon Howard Clifford, who developed a degenerative disease, became fascinated with Pokémon as he traveled the world in search of a cure for his condition. Howard eventually became convinced that if humanity could live as one side-by-side with Pokémon, they too could evolve into the best versions of themselves, much as Pokémon do. To fulfill his vision, Howard used his fortune to found Ryme City as a utopia where Pokémon live with humans free of Poké Balls, with battles outlawed. Upon arrival in Ryme City, Tim heads for a police station and notices a Psyduck watching him. He meets with Lieutenant Hide Yoshida, an old colleague of Harry's, who consoles him over his father's death. Yoshida urges Tim to find a partner like his Snubbull so he no longer has to be alone, but Tim is unreceptive to this advice.

Having received a key from Yoshida, Tim goes to the apartment building where Harry lived. He again encounters the Psyduck and soon meets its partner Lucy Stevens, who is investigating the circumstances around Harry's death despite her position as a fluff column blogger for news network CNM. Lucy tries to gain information from Tim, but he turns her down and goes to Harry's apartment. He comes across a room made to resemble his childhood bedroom, as well as an unsent letter from Harry asking him to move to Ryme City so they may reconcile. Later, while searching Harry's desk, Tim finds a vial of purple gas labeled "R", which he accidentally opens. He vents the gas out of a window, unaware that a group of Aipom are nearby and are exposed to the fumes. Tim hears strange noises and encounters a Pikachu wearing a deerstalker hat that, to his shock, speaks human language. He barely has time to make sense of Pikachu's speech before the Aipom invade the apartment, driven mad by their exposure to the gas. Tim and Pikachu end up being pursued to the roof of the building, where they escape to the street using a trash chute. Once the Aipom calm down and leave, they go to a nearby street market where Tim tries to get other people to hear Pikachu talking, but none of them can hear Pikachu say anything other than his name.

Tim and Pikachu go to Hi-Hat Café, where Pikachu explains that he has amnesia but can remember two things: he was Harry's partner as a detective, and they were investigating a case involving the "R" substance. Tim reluctantly agrees to help Pikachu solve the case, as Pikachu believes Harry is alive and finding the truth will help them locate him. They go to the CNM facility to gather information on the case from Lucy. There, they find her working on the set of a commercial for the upcoming Pokémon parade involving both Howard Clifford and his son Roger. Howard leaves after an argument with his son, and Roger dismisses Lucy's efforts to call attention to the R story. Tim and Pikachu meet with Lucy and learn that Harry had a source at Ryme Wharf he was getting information from. Traveling there, they encounter a Mr. Mime that they quickly realize was Harry's source. Mr. Mime is initially uncooperative with them, but when Tim plays along with its miming and pretends to pour gasoline over it, it agrees to help. It reveals that R was being distributed at a place called the "Roundhouse," which Tim and Pikachu find is an underground facility where illegal Pokémon battles are held. Sebastian, the Roundhouse's operator, recognizes Pikachu and angrily confronts the pair, telling them that Pikachu once damaged his coat and scarred his prized Charizard in battle. He refuses to give up any information unless Pikachu and Charizard have a rematch. However, before the battle starts, Sebastian gives Charizard a dose of R, causing it to go on a rampage. Making matters worse, Pikachu finds himself unable to remember any of his moves. Tim interferes in the battle to protect Pikachu, and when Sebastian enters the ring, he is knocked down by Charizard and breaks the vials of R inside his coat. The gas spreads over the entire room, causing all the Pokémon present to fly into a frenzy. In the midst of the chaos, Tim demands answers and Sebastian tells him that R was being given out by someone he knows only as "the doctor." Soon afterward, a newly-evolved Gyarados defeats Charizard with Hydro Pump, flooding Tim and Pikachu out of the building in the process. They are arrested by Ryme City police and brought to Yoshida, who shows them footage of Harry's accident to convince them of his death.

Dejected following their meeting with Yoshida, Tim and Pikachu are soon summoned to Howard's office by his enigmatic assistant Ms. Norman. Howard explains his beliefs regarding Pokémon and humans helping each other evolve by evolving his Eevee into Flareon and reveals that Harry was working on his behalf to trace the source of R, whose mastermind he identifies as Roger. He confirms that Harry is indeed alive by showing them a hologram of the accident, which reveals to them that Harry crawled from the wreckage only to be taken away by Mewtwo, leaving Pikachu behind. Howard tells Tim and Pikachu that if they can find Mewtwo, they will find Harry. However, he warns them to beware of Roger, who he says is in control of both the media and the police.

Continuing their investigation, the duo meets with Lucy at Hi-Hat Café. She shows them documents regarding the mysterious destruction of the PCL, which has been designated off-limits as a hazardous site following the explosion. The unexplained circumstances regarding the lab's destruction arouse the group's suspicion, as does the history of chief scientist Dr. Ann Laurent, who was a Pokémon neurologist that had her research grant revoked for experimenting with mind-controlling Pokémon prior to working there. They head to the ruins of the PCL, unaware that Roger is following them with a team of his henchmen.

Tim, Pikachu and Lucy infiltrate the PCL

At the lab, the group discovers that the Greninja and Torterra that were experimented on are still being stored there. Pikachu finds a functioning computer in the main laboratory, which he and Tim use to access holographic video records of Laurent's activity. They learn that Laurent created a neural link headband for human use and had been extracting Mewtwo's DNA to create the R serum, which provokes an incoherent rage in its user due to a unique property of Mewtwo's genetic makeup. By going back further in the archive, they discover that Harry had been working for Laurent's benefactors, specifically tasked to help locate Mewtwo so it could be captured. Roger, who has been monitoring them on his laptop using the lab's security cameras, remotely releases the genetically modified Greninja to attack the group. They are pursued relentlessly until Psyduck uses its full power to blow the Greninja away. However, they soon find themselves trapped amidst a group of mountain-sized Torterra. They barely manage to survive, but Pikachu is gravely wounded in their escape. Tim desperately remembers Pikachu's earlier advice about how Pokémon understand humans and is able to convince a Bulbasaur to help. The Bulbasaur, along with several more of its species and a number of Morelull, bring Tim to a valley where they encounter Mewtwo. Mewtwo heals Pikachu's injuries and shows them both a vision of Pikachu sabotaging the lab's security, enabling Mewtwo's escape. However, before it can reveal the truth of Harry's disappearance and its intentions, Roger captures it with machines and takes it away in his truck. Tim and Pikachu reunite with Lucy, but Pikachu abandons Tim, believing that he sold Harry out so Mewtwo could get revenge for its capture. He later comes across the bridge where the accident occurred and discovers proof that it was the Greninja that caused the crash, not Mewtwo. This leads him to realize Howard has been misleading Tim all along.

Howard merges with Mewtwo

Tim and Lucy rush back to Ryme City, fearing that Roger plans to attack the Pokémon parade to get revenge for his father's neglect. Lucy disguises herself as a reporter and attempts to talk to the Ryme City mayor, but Roger appears and she flees. Tim, meanwhile, goes to Howard's office, only to discover Howard wearing the neural link headband Laurent created. Realizing too late that Howard, not Roger, was the mastermind of the plot, Tim is powerless to stop Howard from merging his mind into the captured Mewtwo's body. Howard tells Tim that he devised the plot as a cure not only for himself but for all humanity. Harry had begun investigating the case and traced R to the Roundhouse and then to Laurent, forcing Howard to arrange for him to be killed. Howard throws Tim aside with his newfound telekinetic abilities, flies off into the city and ruptures the parade balloons, unleashing the R within on the civilians and Pokémon below. Countless people, among them Lucy and Yoshida, are fused into their Pokémon by Howard as the final stage of his plan. Pikachu arrives and summons his powers to engage Howard in battle. Meanwhile, Tim comes to and realizes he can stop Howard by removing the neural link, but before he can do so he discovers Roger bound and gagged inside the office closet. The "Roger" who captured Mewtwo arrives and shapeshifts into Ms. Norman, who removes her sunglasses to reveal that she is, in fact, a Ditto. She shapeshifts into a Loudred and attacks Tim with Hyper Voice before assuming the form of Lucy and fighting Tim with her bare hands. She then becomes a Machamp and punches Tim until he ends up hanging out the office window, and then becomes a Cubone to try and make him lose his grip. He nearly falls but is rescued when Roger hits Ms. Norman out the window with a pole and helps him up. She soon returns in the guise of a Braviary, however, and takes the form of a Bouffalant to headbutt Roger, knocking him out. Ms. Norman next transforms into a Charizard and tries to kill Tim, but he manages to spray her with a hose connected to a tank of R, causing her to uncontrollably shapeshift before melting into unconsciousness in her true Ditto form.

Howard recovers from being hit with Pikachu's Volt Tackle and captures him, scorning him for thinking a Pikachu could defeat Mewtwo in battle. Pikachu counters that he was only keeping Howard busy, and Howard is unable to stop Tim from removing the neural link headband from his human body. With their link severed, Howard returns to his body and Mewtwo briefly falls unconscious, but recovers quickly enough to save Pikachu from hitting the ground. Tim rushes out to reunite with them, and Mewtwo disposes of all the remaining R before separating the humans and Pokémon. Howard is arrested, and Roger expresses disappointment in himself for not being there for his father. He grants Lucy a promotion to on-camera reporter and gives her the task of presenting a report on Howard's crimes. Tim and Lucy decide to pursue a relationship. Finally, Mewtwo reveals that in order to save Harry's life, it fused Harry and Pikachu together and waited for Tim's arrival so Harry's injuries could be healed. With his task completed, Pikachu is separated from Harry.

Some time later, Harry and Pikachu go to the train station to see Tim off, but Tim decides to stay in Ryme City with his father and pursue a career as a detective. Tim suggests getting coffee together, and Harry says that it was the only thing he has thought of lately.

Featured Pokémon

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Cast

Cast
Detective Pikachu Ryan Reynolds (voice) Great Detective Pikachu Hidetoshi Nishijima 名探偵ピカチュウ 西島秀俊
Tim Goodman Justice Smith Tim Goodman Ryōma Takeuchi ティム・グッドマン 竹内涼真
Lucy Stevens Kathryn Newton Lucy Marie Iitoyo ルーシー 飯豊まりえ
Lieutenant Hide Yoshida Ken Watanabe Assistant Inspector Yoshida Ken Watanabe ヨシダ警部補 渡辺謙
Harry Goodman Ryan Reynolds Harry Goodman ハリー・グッドマン
Jack Karan Soni Jack Yūki Kaji ジャック 梶裕貴
Sebastian Omar Chaparro Sebastian Kenta Miyake セバスチャン 三宅健太
Howard Clifford Bill Nighy Howard Hiroshi Naka ハワード 中博史
Roger Clifford Chris Geere Roger Shin'ichirō Miki ロジャー 三木眞一郎
Ms. Norman Suki Waterhouse
Dr. Ann Laurent Rita Ora Dr. Laurent Megumi Hayashibara ローラン博士 林原めぐみ
DJ Diplo DJ Kaito Ishikawa DJ 石川界人

Staff

Detective Pikachu
名探偵ピカチュウ Great Detective Pikachu
Director
Casting
  • Sarah Halley Finn
Music
Costume designer
  • Suzie Harman
Film editors
Production designer
  • Nigel Phelps
Director of photography
Executive producers
Producers
Screenplay
Story
Co-producer
  • Alexandra Mendes
Visual effects

Soundtrack

Main article: Pokémon Detective Pikachu Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Henry Jackman. The movie features the Pokémon Red and Blue title theme under the title Red & Blue Theme, Carry On by Kygo and Rita Ora, and ELECTRICITY by the Honest Boyz featuring Lil Uzi Vert over the ending credits. The songs Le Fantôme de Saint Bechet and Payin No Mind by Glenn Crytzer, Gotta Catch 'Em All (Pokémon Theme), Jigglypuff by Rachel Lillis, Goh by What So Not & Skrillex featuring KLP, and Kyoto Mist by David Wahler were featured during the film itself.

The songs Happy Together by The Turtles, Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler, and What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong were also featured in trailers for the film. In the Japanese versions of trailers featuring Holding Out for a Hero, the 1984 cover by Miki Asakura is used in its place.

Events

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Release

Date Locations
May 3, 2019 Japan
May 8, 2019 Belgium, France, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland (French)
May 9, 2019 Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Germany, Georgia, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Laos, Italy, Israel, Macau, Malaysia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland (German, Italian), Taiwan, Slovakia, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uruguay
May 10, 2019 Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Mainland China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, India, Ireland, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Norway, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Spain (Basque, Catalan[1], Spanish), Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam
May 15, 2019 Trinidad and Tobago
May 16, 2019 Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia
May 17, 2019 Bangladesh, South Africa
May 31, 2019 Poland
June 7, 2019 Romania
June 13, 2019 Bahrain, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
July 10, 2019 Egypt

Trivia

  • The rights to distribute the movie outside Japan were initially won by Universal Pictures, but they were eventually taken over by Warner Bros., a distributor of previous Pokémon movies.
  • This is the first Pokémon movie to be officially rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America. All previous movies were either rated G or not rated.
  • As of July 2020, this movie has the highest rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes of any Pokémon movie, with a "Fresh" rating of 68% out of a total of 269 reviews.
  • This movie has the highest production budget of any Pokémon movie, totaling $150 million.
  • This movie is the highest grossing Pokémon movie, with box office sales exceeding $433 million as of August 2019.
  • This is one of two Pokémon-related movies to be released in 2019, with the other being the twenty-second anime movie. Coincidentally, both movies prominently feature a Mewtwo and heavily use CGI.
  • While the movie takes liberties with the original plot of the Detective Pikachu video game, it does reveal the ultimate fate of Tim's father, which was not addressed in the source material.
  • The Jigglypuff shown in the coffee shop wielding a microphone/marker is a reference to the Jigglypuff in the Pokémon anime.
  • The Greninja use water swords just like the one in Super Smash Bros. does.
  • The gangster movie playing on the TV when Tim enters Harry's apartment for the first time is the movie that Kevin McCallister watches in the 1990 Christmas comedy film Home Alone. The movie in question, titled "Angels with Filthy Souls", is not a real one, and was made specially for use in Home Alone.
  • When attempting to calm Psyduck, Detective Pikachu yells, "Serenity now!" This is a reference to the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Serenity Now", in which Frank Costanza is told to yell the phrase whenever he is angry, in order to lower his blood pressure.
  • At the beginning of the movie, Mewtwo says, "They're outside", before breaking out of its container, a reference to how in Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mewtwo says a similar line, "Those voices... they're outside... where I must be", before breaking out of its container.
  • While being scratched by Lucy, Detective Pikachu says, "Sweet mother of Arceus", marking the first time the word "Arceus" is used as a replacement for "God" in an official piece of Pokémon media.
  • This is the first Pokémon product to be dubbed into:
  • This is also the first Pokémon product of the entire franchise to:
    • be introduced at all with subtitles in Azerbaijani, Estonian, Latvian, Mongolian, and Slovene languages.
    • be subtitled in Croatian and Serbian since 2012, Icelandic since 2004, and Macedonian since 2002.
    • The first trailer's music, "Happy Together" by The Turtles was played previously in the US commercial for Super Smash Bros. from 1999.

Errors

  • Tim refers to multiple Aipom as "Aipoms" and Pikachu says "Greninjas". This is incorrect as Pokémon names are the same for both singular and plural.
  • The Greninja are affected by Psyduck's Psychic attack, even though they are Dark types.
    • However, it is possible that these Greninja had Protean and thus weren't Dark types while being hit.

In other languages


References

  1. ↑ https://llengua.gencat.cat/ca/detalls/noticia/Pokemon-detectiu-Pikachu-sestrena-en-catala-aquest-divendres

External links

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