POKÉMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU Review

It's still difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that despite countless video games and other IP adaptations over the years that Pokémon has somehow eluded becoming a big screen, live-action event film until this weekend. I can remember Christmas of '99 and getting a Game Boy Color that had to be shared between myself and my siblings with each of us wanting to play our respective Pokémon games at the same time whether that was the red version I received or the blue version my brother did. This was my first real encounter with the world of Pokémon after which I enjoyed collecting the cards more so than I did necessarily playing the actual game. And then there was of course the animated series which led to a couple of animated feature-length films and some Nintendo 64 games (Pokémon Stadium was legit!), but in retrospect it all felt more like a fad that came and went rather quickly in the scheme of things. After the Pokémon roster started expanding past that original one hundred and fifty characters and through to a few years back when the brand re-claimed its dominance over the market with Pokémon GO-the interactive mobile game that had you feeling like you were actually catching Pokémon in the wild-I'd been more or less out of the loop. Moreover, despite how far-reaching Pokémon continued to be, I simply couldn't muster any interest in the multi-format craze; the individual facets of it seeming as widespread as the next and each with as dedicated a fan base as the next. What was I missing? With this in mind, one can imagine my initial response to the news Warner Bros. was hiring Ryan Reynolds to voice Pikachu in a live-action adaptation of one of the newer video games that dealt with this fan-favorite Poké-creature becoming a detective. In short, it sounded like a really dumb idea that could in no way translate to the big screen in any type of credible manner that might pull in an audience beyond the already initiated and the Deadpool 3 screenwriters. Rather, it felt as if it would probably end up going the route of those Alvin and the Chipmunk or Smurf movies where no one actually cared about them and the only people who saw them were children whose parents needed eighty-eight minutes of repose over the weekend. This was, of course, until the first trailer arrived lending the feature the favor of clearly being a more creative endeavor than those aforementioned cash before quality adaptations. This is to say there was evidence of a certain level of care given in the creation of Pokémon Detective Pikachu as the trailer and subsequent execution of the film illustrates both a style and ambition in developing this world that means to both fulfill the fan base as well as weave this strange attraction from the uninitiated by being just weird enough to be engaging; by being unabashedly unusual, but undeniably interesting.

First Trailer for POKÉMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU

This is just...too weird. Warner Bros. has apparently figured out how to, after nearly two decades of prominence in the States, concoct a live-action Pokémon movie that actually looks nothing like I would have imagined the first live-action Pokémon movie would look. That said, I don't remember much about the whole Pokémon boom of the late nineties other than the fact that the show was mildly entertaining as were the Game Boy games and I never got that damn holographic Charizard card. I'm not necessarily a big fan of the brand, but I was able to get into it for a little bit when everyone else was given I was in junior high at the time and all anyone was doing was playing the new N64 games Nintendo and The Pokémon Company were pumping out. How the brand is still viable so long after it catapulted into the zeitgeist twenty years ago is beyond me (and no, I didn't play Pokémon Go a couple of years ago), but as these things go it's clear as to why WB and Legendary would partner with The Pokémon Company to bring these monsters to life for the first time: global appeal, global dollars. Still, POKÉMON Detective Pikachu doesn't exactly seem the obvious route to go. The film is apparently based on a spin-off game that came out a few years ago in Japan. The Japanese version had an older, deeper voice actor performing the role of Pikachu, but for this Americanized version we have Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. To hear this very distinctive voice coming out of this well-known character is a bit disorienting to be sure, but it will be interesting to see if Reynolds can condition audiences to look past his voice and believe it really is the character of Pikachu rather than Reynolds in a booth somewhere. The film concerns itself with an ace detective, Harry Goodman, who goes missing thus prompting his son, Tim (Justice Smith), to find out what happened to his father. The trailer tells us Tim is the only one who is able to actually understand Pikachu and thus the two of them partner up as Pikachu assists in Tim's investigation; the two of them piecing together clues through the streets of Ryme City. POKÉMON Detective Pikachu also stars Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, is directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps), and opens on May 10th, 2019.

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM Review

Come what may, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a curious middle chapter that will likely be remembered more for its curiosities than its contributions to the overall arc of this new trilogy. What will allow the World trilogy to always have an upper hand over that of the will-always-be-superior original and its two less than successful follow-ups is that of the coherency this new set of films will seemingly possess and thus is what initially makes Fallen Kingdom so intriguing. Intriguing in a morbid curiosity kind of way as the first act of the film would have one believe it was something of a task to bring together our protagonists from the first film. Bryce Dallas Howard's no longer high-heel wearing Claire Dearing has become a voice for the dinosaurs left abandoned on Isla Nublar as a volcano is set to erupt at any moment threatening another extinction-level event. Convenient, right? Well, as it turns out this is not only an opportunity for writers Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow to move the action off of the island (a good thing), but it also creates inspiration for Claire to reach out to now ex-boyfriend and "raptor wrangler" Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) so that they may reunite in an effort to rescue as many dinos from the island as they can. Is it necessary that Owen be brought back into the action? Not entirely and Fallen Kingdom does Pratt's character no favors by giving him little to do other than become a human super hero who in turn becomes more of a dinosaur whisperer than a trainer that is also doomed to repeat the romantic beats of the first film with Claire, but to not have the star of the first film return would feel weird as well. It makes sense to a degree, but this contradiction of sorts in need versus obligation is symbolic of what seems will come to define the shortcomings of this new trilogy as well. Owen is a fun and charismatic character that functioned well for the plot of the first film, but who is only called on to be fun and charming in this sequel despite the function of his character within the plot being largely pointless (though this wouldn't be as glaring if there were more depth to the character). The movies themselves are breezily enjoyable and often times massively entertaining, but the plots on which they function will seemingly only feel more and more strained the further they push this. In essence, other than for financial reasons is there a story worth telling that justifies the existence of more of these movies? The moral dilemma of should man do something simply because it is capable has been obliterated as yet another genetically engineered dino is at the heart of Fallen Kingdom with this film moving more into should these dinosaurs be regarded in the same way as other endangered species despite being created in a lab. Much in the same way Owen is charming and fun to have around even if his presence is mostly unnecessary Fallen Kingdom only brings up said points to try and validate its existence without ever exploring them enough to make this movie feel necessary.

First Trailer for JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of the Jurassic Park franchise, but I enjoy them well enough. I can remember being ecstatic about finally getting to rent the third, non-Spielberg directed installment, when it arrived on DVD because my parents weren't big fans of going to the movies (and with five kids, I get it), but my excitement mainly came from finally being old enough to see one of these movies I'd heard so much about and been too young to see before. I saw snippets of the original throughout the years, but never watched the trilogy as a whole until buying the blu-ray box set a few years back. I also revisited the original when it was re-released in theaters three years ago and though I haven't re-watched Colin Trevorrow's (Safety Not Guaranteed) Jurassic World since seeing it on the IMAX screen upon its initial release, but I simply remember having a lot of fun with the movie, not worrying too much about logistics or details, but simply becoming wrapped up in the experience of it all. I genuinely liked and enjoyed the film upon seeing it and will definitely make time to re-watch it prior to venturing out to see director J.A. Bayona's (The Impossible, A Monster Calls) follow-up in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  Bayona is a director who can work with big scales on comparitvely smaller budgets and while both of his previous films have left me a little lukewarm (though I did enjoy A Monster Calls more than The Impossible, so maybe he'll only continue to get better) I look forward to seeing what the filmmaker can do with as big a budget as he was no doubt granted here. All of this taken into account, this first teaser for Fallen Kingdom is visually magnificent with the aesthetic overall looking slick and impressive while it be hard to argue the dinosaurs themselves have ever looked better. What is really important though is tone and the tone of the trailer is keen to let the audience know what they're in for here. This doesn't look to be little more than a rehash of an earlier film or something that is retreading old ground, but while some have balked at the idea of the premise it only seems a natural progression of what might have come next in the real world. Not that I wasn't ever going to be, but I'm on board and can't wait to see this on the biggest screen possible. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Ted Levine, Justice Smith, Geraldine Chaplin, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, BD Wong, Jeff Goldblum, and opens on June 22nd, 2018.

First Trailer for PAPER TOWNS

Just for the record, The Fault in Our Stars made over $300 million worldwide on a budget of $12 million which is, to put it calmly, completely BONKERS! You bet your ass the minute Fox saw those returns they were gearing up for another John Green adaptation if not as many of them as they could get their hands on. Honestly though, the next Green adaptation was already in motion by the time Stars hit theaters last summer and like Nicholas Sparks before him (though a much, much better writer in general) Green will seemingly pump out an adaptation annually at this point until the well runs dry. The second big adaptation being Paper Towns has once again been adapted by Scott Neustadter (Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now, (500) Days of Summer) and will this time be directed by Jake Schreier of Robot & Frank fame which I really enjoyed back in 2012. Needless to say, the film has a lot going for it and as I read Fault in Our Stars within the few days before the movie premiered and enjoyed them both immensely I am looking forward to this next adaptation despite not having read the source material...yet. The good news is that tonally this looks to be a big difference from what we encountered last year and that seems to be the general rule for Green's work across the board as even standing in a Target aisle looking at his titles doesn't allow for any real sense of connection between them. Not only is this interesting from a writing perspective, but is good news for audiences if his work continues to get adapted and make money. The more diversity, the better! Nat Wolff is promoted from supporting character in Stars to leading man here and is joined by the likes of Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Halston Sage, and Justice Smith. Paper Towns opens on July 24th.