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| Jackman |
Pokémon Detective Pikachu: (Henry Jackman/Various)
When it comes to the beloved Pokémon franchise, you can either accept
the Pokémon universe or you can't, and despite the longevity of the
1990's concept in the video game and trading card realms, a movie like
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is destined to be a polarizing event.
The Japanese franchise has spawned everything from manga comics to a
theme park, but there have been surprisingly few feature films
distributed for the concept worldwide. As a 2019 entry,
Pokémon
Detective Pikachu marked the first such feature to debut in the
United States since 2000, and it represents the first foray into live
action. As something of a spinoff from the main franchise roots, the
Detective Pikachu story dates back to a 2016 video game and is the
subject of this film. To describe the Pokémon universe to those
disinclined to find any sanity or humor in it would be a waste of time,
so it suffices to say that the plot of this film simply involves a human
character bonding with one of the plush little monsters in this
alternate video game universe. They spend the film searching for clues
as to what happened to the human's father in the rather bleak urban
environment of game-inspired weirdness, and the ability of the titular
Pokémon to communicate openly with the human is a point of interest.
After sleuthing and battling through the universe, some commentary about
the worthiness of humanity results. For those not enthralled by the
concept,
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is little more than an asinine
diversion for kids and adults with too much expendable time. This crowd
will find little to appreciate in the soundtrack for the movie; in fact,
without a clearly considered and prevalent connection between this music
and everything from the anime series and games that have come before,
the soundtrack plays like a disjointed and somewhat cheap product better
destined for a video distribution project. Franchise loyalists will find
some aspects to like, as there was an effort to incorporate some
existing songs and melodies from other Pokémon media into this film.
Those references, unfortunately, don't mingle with the original score by
Henry Jackman, though, and that alone is a significant disappointment.
Jackman and his team of ghostwriters extend the functional personality
and general approach of
Big Hero 6 and
Wreck-It Ralph
without really accomplishing a memorable result. The score is thus
serviceable but surprisingly anonymous and tedious at times.
The approach of Jackman and his team to
Pokémon
Detective Pikachu makes basic sense atmospherically. For the
live-action environment, an orchestra is added to the base synthetic
environment for the concept. The electronics are styled after the same
retro elements recognizable from
Wreck-it-Ralph, the video game
ambience fully embraced in about half the score. The action of this film
is largely orchestral, bordering on horror in its dissonant demeanor in
most cues of significant weight. This foundational personality from
Jackman's team is fine, and it generates some individual highlights that
do their best to refrain from parody territory while generating genuine
might. The significant downside of this soundtrack is the total lack of
cohesive narrative and structural consistency. There are a few themes
specific to this score that emerge occasionally, led by a descending
rhythmic figure for the location of "Ryme City" that matures nicely in
both orchestral form ("Save the City") and in the electronic nostalgia
("Game On"). A somewhat buried friendship theme emerges in "Buddies" and
sends the score off with sensitivity (and a nice closing crescendo) in
"Together." There's also a wishy-washy environment of otherworldly
fantasy and mystery that slows the score at times, heard mingling with
the universe's motif in "Embrace" and "Epiphany." The action sequences
typically revolve around a fight, and these inconsistent cues sometimes
offer impressive symphonic highlights, like the impressive "Greninja &
Torterra" cowritten by Evan Goldman. The score's inability to adequately
develop its own motific base and refer back to the franchise's existing
melodies is its greatest weakness, one that will be fatal for some
listeners. Jackman did adapt Junichi Masuda's existing "Red and Blue"
theme for the end credits of
Pokémon Detective Pikachu, but it's
too little, too late and it is not included on the score's album. None
of the song placements in the movie that refer back to the franchise's
other soundtracks are included on the same album, either. You do get
"The Roadhouse," however, the score album's single standout moment of
outrageous irritation and potential for derangement. Overall,
Pokémon
Detective Pikachu lacks the cohesive narrative and genuine heart of
the far more effective
Wreck-It Ralph scores, seeming like a
cheap knock-off of the same environment whenever the electronics are
incorporated. Those looking for robust orchestral action may be
moderately intrigued by the suspense and action sequences here, but they
are too few and too disjointed to merit a recommendation. A better album
combining the score with a few songs and the end credits adaptation
would have improved upon an otherwise underwhelming experience.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Henry Jackman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.75
(in 16 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.7
(in 5,144 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
