I have never played the Detective Pikachu video game, and I do not really have a desire to.

I am sure it is fun and unique, but I just have no interest in playing it.

But seeing the trailer for the movie of the same title, due for a May 2019 release, I am excited.

Of course there have been plenty of Pokémon movies, but they were all animated. I have always wanted a live action movie to portray the universe of pocket monsters (the words that make the Pokémon name). 

But I always had a few concerns regarding the crossover between the animated universe and the live action universe.

Of course, Disney has had a lot of success with doing so recently and will have more movies in 2019 where they will do so. For example, Beauty and the Beast looked great, and the Lion King trailer looks fantastic as well (the only Disney movie I ever cared about being animated).

But trying to animate little monsters that have some unique looks is a unique challenge, and one that I am sure took the producers and team a lot of dedicated time to figure out.

Some of them are not that bad.

Pikachu is a little mouse that has some red and black on it, nothing too crazy. Plus, the franchise’s mascot has to look good, otherwise there would be public dissatisfaction.

Bulbasaur looked good in the trailer as well, but again, it is just a little turtle-style tetrapod that is basically all green.

But the small section of the trailer where they showed Charizard somewhat justifies my concerns.

It looks menacing and big and like the flying machine it is in the anime and the games, but the lizard-type skin looks just a little weird. Maybe that is just me.

Otherwise, most of the Pokémon shown looked really good, but there will undoubtedly be more and hopefully they look good too.

My other concern was the casting of who would voice Pikachu.

Of course, most Pokémon never talk in the anime (beside a select few), so how do you cast the most important character in not only the franchise, but in the movie, especially since the title has its name in it.

I could not give you any names off the top of my head. I cannot think of anyone who would be perfect for the voice of a little electric mouse.

But Ryan Reynolds is perfect for it.

He will bring the humor that the movie should have, as the whole franchise has good humor.

But he also is a dynamic actor whose voice can adapt really well to the different scenarios.

In the trailer alone, he goes from humorously threatening to shock the other main character to sort of sadly thanking him with a slightly somber tone.

Brilliant.

Pikachu is an emotional and sarcastic character in the anime, among other things, so it just makes sense that a dynamic actor like Reynolds voices the character. Plus, everyone loves Pikachu, and everyone loves Ryan Reynolds.

All in all, I am ready for the movie. I will still worry about how the Pokémon look and will critically look for it while I watch it, but I am definitely excited for the movie.

Dillan Schorfheide is a junior journalism major can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].