Detective Pikachu Parents' Guide
3 Things to Know About Pokémon Detective Pikachu Before Bringing Your Kids
Although Pokémon Detective Pikachu is based on the mild Nintendo games, the live-action movie — staring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu — is a little less lighthearted and young feeling than the game or cartoons that have come before it. Adults and kids alike will enjoy the new film, which hits theatres on May 10, but if you're looking to take your little kids (under about age 6) to the movie as well, there are a some minor things you might want to look out for.
The movie's rated PG for what we feel are just a few little reasons:
1. There are some action scenes with mild violence.
At the end of the day, Pokémon are creatures with powers who can electrify things and breathe fire, among so many other things. There are a few battles between Pokémon that get a bit violent (the one with Charizard, mainly) and some action toward the end of the film. It only heats up a bit, but your very young kiddos might be a little nervous about Pikachu and other characters' well-being.
2. There are a few scenes in dark lighting that are slightly jumpy.
Toward the beginning there's a gnarly car crash that happens at night — I jumped, and I'll admit I'm a bit of a baby, but the scene is shown a few times through the movie, and it got me every time. Other than that, the other mildly jumpy moments are short-lived (one to look out for is after Tim, Pikachu, and their friends leave the lab compound and are running through the forest).
3. There are a few jokes aimed at parents that should go over your little kids' heads, but that your tweens might catch.
Like with most kids' movies, there are a few jokes for the adults buried in the dialogue. I laughed out loud several times, and there are plenty of opportunities for your little ones to laugh as well, but your older tweens might just catch on to the more suggestive and crude jokes.
All in all, there's not *too* much to look out for and this is definitely a movie your family will love, but you know your kids best — if anything mentioned above seems like it might trigger or scare your more sensitive child, maybe wait until Detective Pikachu is on DVD and you can utilise the fast forward feature.
