“Detective Pikachu” may not be for everyone — but it’s surprising how much it could be.

Boasting “Blade Runner”- style neo-noir visuals and a wise-cracking Ryan Reynolds, it would seem to be a joke. It still is a joke, but it’s also so, so real, and surprisingly, it works. For the first live-action movie adaptation of the Pokemon characters, specifically the 2016 “Detective Pikachu” video game, the filmmakers were smart to lean into an absolutely preposterous and campy premise, placing the cuddly yellow fantasy creature Pikachu within the darkly realistic human confines of Ryme City.

The premise is completely committed and spot on. You’ve got your smart-alecky little Pikachu in a tiny Sherlock Holmes hat. You’ve got your wounded young man, Tim (Justice Smith), hoping to learn about his police detective dad’s death. You got your femme fatale, plucky reporter Lucy (Kathryn Newton).

Throw in Murdochian media moguls Howard and Roger Clifford (Bill Nighy and Chris Geere) while bathing the entire atmosphere in neon lights filtered through mist, and you’ve got yourself a proper detective story. The cognitive dissonance of populating the human world with creatures like fire-breathing Charizards and glowing Flareons just makes it that much more silly and weird.

If you’ve never heard of Pokemon, here’s somewhat of an explanation. First there were trading cards, and a cartoon, and ultimately a geolocation phone game that allowed one to indulge in the fantasy of being a Pokemon trainer, a human who catches super-charged animal creature alien things and pits their Pokemon in battle against others.

In “Detective Pikachu,” Ryme City is a utopia where human and Pokemon live in harmony. Why, then, are underground Pokemon battles popping up and police detectives bursting into flames? What’s with the mysterious “accident” at a remote Pokemon experimentation facility? There’s also this purple gas that drives all the Pokemon wild. Sounds like a case for Detective Pikachu!

Unfortunately, while the world and the characters are incredibly fun, the story within that world suffers. Most of the exposition is provided flashback-style, and the action sequences are inane, chaotic and incomprehensible.

“POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU”

** 1/2

(PG, 1:44)