I’m Rob Letterman, director of “Pokémon —

Detective Pikachu.” So this is the scene where Tim Goodman,

played by Justice Smith, meets Detective Pikachu

for the first time.

And it’s a really tricky scene because we

need to explain to the audience

that Pokémon don’t speak.

And on top of that, Pikachu assumes

no one can understand him.

And he has to also learn that Tim can understand him

while Tim is learning that Pikachu can talk.

So it’s a really tricky scene to set up

in a very short amount of time because these Aipom, which

are outside and have been exposed to this gas that

turns them from adorable to vicious,

are about to come in.

So that’s what this moment is right here, plus a lot of

funny from Ryan Reynolds.”

“I know you can’t understand me, but put down the stapler

or I will electrocute you.”

“The lighting setup of the scene

is meant to be this sort of film noir, neo-noir look.

But we mixed it with this kind of “Blade Runner,” Neo Tokyo

look.”

“You can understand me!

I’ve been so lonely.”

“And in this moment —

I’m going to state the obvious,

but it is really incredible —

Justice Smith is — on the day, there’s nothing there.

There are tennis balls.

There’s puppets.

There’s me.

He’s giving a performance that’s really complicated

but has to feel natural, has to feel funny.

It’s very physical.

His eye lines are really complicated.

We have laser light going around for him to follow.

There’s wires on him throwing him into chairs.

He’s got to still react with Pikachu.

He’s getting manhandled by three stuntmen there who

were pushing him around.

And then we had to erase it all.

It’s amazing.

And he still gives this surprisingly grounded

performance in this very bizarre world

of “Detective Pikachu.’”

“Come on, kid.

Let’s move.”

“Aah!”