Detective Pikachu is poised to hit all the best feelings of nostalgia

Pikachu is on the case

Yesterday (in addition to the sheer sadness of losing an icon) served up a fresh helping of nostalgia, and I don't think I have ever felt more excited about a movie. While my love of Harry Potter keeps me running to see the new Fantastic Beasts movies and my obsession with Middle Earth wrapped me up in the Hobbit movies, neither of those franchises were as central to my childhood as one particular brand: Pokemon. And with the release of the Detective Pikachu trailer, I was instantly transported to my Gameboy-playing-90's.

For the unaware, Detective Pikachu is not your typical Pokemon movie, and trust me, I have seen them all (up until the number of Pokemon started approaching 1000). To start with, it is a live-action movie mixed with realistic CGI; it is more like the Jungle Book except the creatures are not exactly based on "real" creatures. As far as CGI monsters go, the Pokemon look pretty awesome. Pikachu looks just as cute and cuddly as you would expect for a yellow, fuzzy mouse; I once had a large, fuzzy stuffed Pikachu that made noise which was identical to this movie version. In addition, Charizard looks just as terrifying, Jigglypuff looks just as soft, and Mr. Mime looks just as goofy.

Now, obviously, the elephant in the room when it comes to this movie is the fact that Pikachu can talk...kinda. While I am not quite sure the dynamics of how it happens, but it appears that the lead character (played by Justice Smith) can understand Pikachu while no one else can; everyone else just hears him say his name like other Pokemon. The trailer establishes that Pokemon can talk to and understand each other, as they did in the cartoon, but humans cannot understand them. However, the protagonist understands Pikachu perfectly meaning he has some connection with Pikachu directly, unlike Meowth from the cartoon which spoke English.

Releasing in 2019, it is difficult to say how successful Detective Pikachu will be, but early impressions on the internet suggest this could be a success. Pokemon remains highly popular with kids while 90's kids (like myself) are just as likely to enjoy the time travel. The movie is likely to appeal to both audiences as the cute and cuddly Pokemon will exist in a grim-looking adult world; Pikachu being voiced by Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) is sure to draw in crowds. One thing is certain: this movie was designed to hit us right in the nostalgia-feels, and so far, it has certainly succeeded.