Pokémon Detective Pikachu

Reynolds is in his element when allowed to be goofy, and this stuff is nothing if not surreal, especially in the second act.

For a while, the first live-action Pokemon movie's achievements are enough.

Fortunately, the ever-likeable Reynolds is equal to the task, channelling the savvy exuberance (but not the rude bits) of his Deadpool persona.

Detective Pikachu is unrelentingly weird.

Oil and water. Toothpaste and orange juice. Good decisions and Florida. Some things just don't go together, and you can add Ryan Reynolds' voice and Pikachu to that list.

There's something admirable about a film that isn't afraid to have some fun with a property so established - and beloved - by its core audience.

Detective Pikachu is actually a good kids movie, both succeeding at entertaining kids and giving them a good life lesson while entertaining any adults watching as well.

It's a movie so strange that Rita Ora popping up in a bizarre cameo as a scientist wouldn't even crack a list of the top ten weirdest things about it.

The makers of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu have done something wise, which is to create a film version of the media/toy franchise that is mostly accessible even to those of us who have zero connection to the phenomenon that is Pokémon.

[T]he experience isn't so much linear as it is downright circuitous, stranding its nuggets of fuzzy joy in a script that fails to blend world-building with forward momentum.