'Detective Pikachu' trailer: Ryan Reynolds is a Pokémon and people are losing it

By Ethan Alter, Yahoo Entertainment

He was the Merc with a mouth; now Ryan Reynolds is the Pokémon with an attitude. The actor voices the titular character in POKÉMON: Detective Pikachu, the first live-action Pokémon movie in the franchise’s long history.

Reynolds took to Twitter to unveil the first sneak peek at the film, which is due in cinemas on 10 May, 2019:

Set in Ryme City — which resembles a PG-rated version of Blade Runner‘s future dystopia — the trailer finds young Tim Goodman (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s Justice Smith) looking into the mysterious disappearance of his detective father. Aiding the investigation is his dad’s former partner in crime-solving … Detective Pikachu. Their odd-couple journey through Ryme City’s criminal underbelly finds them interrogating human and Pokémon suspects alike. That means that all your favourite pocket monsters are getting CGI makeovers, including Jigglypuff, Charizard, and Mr. Mime.

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu UK poster (Warner Bros.)
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu UK poster (Warner Bros.)

But the real star of the trailer is — of course — Reynolds, who employs his usual motormouth M.O. with gusto. Where the animated Pikachu is a creature of two words, Detective Pikachu is a veritable fountain of put-downs, wisecracks, and wry observations. Most of those go unnoticed to the public at large, but Tim has the ability to understand his dad’s partner and does his best to keep up with all the Deadpool-esque riffing.

If you’re both delighted and disturbed by this trailer, the internet agrees with you. The reactions on Twitter have ranged from shocked…

…to shook:

As for us, we’re totally giving Detective Pikachu two “Pikas” up.

POKÉMON: Detective Pikachu blasts into cinemas on 10 May, 2019.

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