#Dude somebody help Amuro

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Glad Amuro's having such a good time

[kyrilu]

Detective Conan Movies #1-20 – Thoughts

So, I watched all of them. When I was in DC/MK fandom in 2010-2011, I did watch a couple, but I mostly forgot them.

I ranked them below in order of preference, but I am very biased. I will forgive some movies’ faults just because it has Kaitou Kid.

(…I am not impressed by how many of the movies end with Ran being trapped somewhere and needing to be saved. This was glaringly obvious when I happened to watch Strategy above the Depths right before Private Eye in the Distant Sea. Why do the movies do this to her? D:)

Spoilers below. It took me way too long to finish writing up this thing.

1) Movie 13: The Raven Chaser

The marketing misled way too much in teasers/trailers, but nevertheless, I think this is an AMAZING movie.  

So, this movie combines two plots: the serial murder case and the Black Org storyline elements. It’s tense how this movie raises the stakes with Irish uncovering Conan’s identity. And seeing all those police inspectors working together was fun: Kansuke Yamato interacting with Yamamura was just pure comedy gold.

The obligatory Detective Conan move action elements were dramatic and implausible as always, but compared to the other movies, it wasn’t too over-the-top. I loved it when Ran dodged a bullet(!!!!!) when facing down Irish, and when Conan launched a helmet at Gin and Vodka in the helicopter (leaving the former to wonder: ‘Who was that?’).

Basically, the plot balances out well and it feels like Detective Conan. It has mystery with the usual revenge murder case; it has action; it has the Black Org.

My only disappointment about this movie is that it isn’t canon. The fallout would be so interesting to explore – Takagi and Sato figured out that someone infiltrated the police! Gin and Vodka knew there was somebody dangerous to them at Touto Tower! Irish discovered Conan’s identity!

Things I liked:

Conan having a nightmare about the Black Org, because I feel like main canon doesn’t have enough character trauma on his part and I’m all for whump.

Hattori worrying over Shinichi being hurt/killed by the Black Org and saying he hoped he would visit Osaka.

Inspector Matsumato being familiar with the Beatles (not just because he’s of the Beatles generation, but likely to some extent it’s because of the serial murderer who injured him).

Relatedly, Haibara mentioning that Akemi loved the Beatles.

Things I didn’t like:  

That confrontation with the murder suspect taking hostages at that mall was handled SO BADLY by the police. You would think they would be more competent.

Also, give Yamato Kansuke moar interesting shit to do.

2) Movie 20: The Darkest Nightmare

This is not very Detective Conan-y.

It’s a spy genre/thriller type of movie; you can even hear it in the modified opening theme, which is obviously James Bond-inspired.

BUT. But. I don’t care. Akai and Amuro are in this movie, and they’re so cool and I love them. I liked their frenetic fight on top of that ferris wheel, and then eventually working together by unspoken agreement. I still can’t get over the fact that Akai saved Amuro’s life before Gin could shoot him.

There’s also something interestingly ironic that says a lot about the characters (even if non-canon). In the Scarlet Arc, you have Amuro trying to blow Akai’s Subaru Okiya cover and wanting to kill Akai or hand him over to the Black Org in some way. In the Darkest Nightmare, you have Akai saving Amuro’s life and helping him keep his cover.

I think the Curacao plot is kind of silly, unfortunately. ‘The Shonen Tantei help redeem an amnesiac evil secret agent through the power of their sweet childish innocence’…is just, what?

I also think it was incredibly stupid for that PSB agent (Kazami) to take Curacao to Touto Aquarium to help her regain her memory by riding the ferris wheel and seeing those lights. DUDE. You are bringing her out to an exposed public space, and the Black Org obviously wants her back!  

Can’t you just recreate the light in some other fashion? It’s not the 90s in Conan canon anymore! Shove a laptop in her face!

3) Movie 3: The Last Wizard of the Century

I’m putting this as my favorite Kid movie, because unlike the other Kid movies, there at least is a semi-pretense of a whodunit case here. Most of the other Kid movies are heavily action, and/or have cases I didn’t like as much.

I’ll take the treasure hunt aspects, with a spooky castle with secret doors and those intricate memory eggs.

That said, the murderer being a descendant of Rasputin and that other woman being a descendant of the Romanovs—it’s fucking ridiculous.

Oh, and so is Conan having his glasses upgraded to be bulletproof.

But I think I’m still incredibly fond of this movie (this is the only DC movie I own on DVD from years ago). I liked that opening with Kid dramatically landing on Ayumi’s balcony, and him (also dramatically) disappearing amongst a flock of birds at the end…

In the movie ‘verse, this is when he finds out Conan’s identity, which, imo, is an interesting benchmark.

4) Movie 7: Crossroads at the Ancient Capital

Incredibly fun and very action-y, with Hattori showing off his kendo skills!

The story is also very sweet when it comes to romance – Hattori/Kazuha feelings, with Hattori’s realization that yes, she was his first childhood love. :’)

The case, involving a robber gang, was kind of confusing to me, but that’s probably due to my unfamiliarity with Japanese folklore since it referenced that a lot.

The conspicuous CGI during Hattori’s motorcycle scenes was so awful.

Inspector Ayanokoji is such a delight – ‘the royal inspector’ who carries around a chipmunk! Kogoro's absurd theory that Ayanokoji carried out the murder with the help of his chipmunk is hilarious.

I also liked Shinichi’s appearance! It’s like he’s returning the favor and masquerading as Hattori, since Hattori has disguised as him twice (the first time being an utter fluke, though). Although Shinichi’s such a dick for tranquilizing Ran and leaving her there in the forest. >:(

I understand the secret identity issues, and I do ship ShinRan! But in general, he’s a jerk for lying to her and agh, again, come on, tranquilizing his sort-of-girlfriend in the forest and making her briefly think she was just imagining things and didn’t see him at all.

5) Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven

As an earlier movie, at least this one does have a conventional whodunit mystery plot. The motive is completely out there: the murderer killed two people because a building they built obscured his view of Mt. Fuji.

The action scenes are of the ‘jumping across buildings with bad physics’ variety, but I was entertained. I liked the Shounen Tantei in this movie (Ayumi being able to keep track of seconds because of her heartbeat around Conan, bless)…I liked the Black Org inclusion, because of the Haibara focus and her angst around her sister.

This movie is pre-Chianti and Korn - seeing Gin taking the sniper position was super weird.

6) Movie 12: Full Score of Fear

I cried. I’m a sucker for dramatic music scenes, and I cried that moment when Akiba sang Amazing Grace, and Ran remembered: her and Shinichi hearing Akiba sing by the river, a long time ago.

Akiba was such a great case character! I liked her a lot – she was rude and brittle, but she really was someone who cared and had been through tragedy and loss.

It’s an interesting plot, story wise, with Conan actively working to protect her (saying he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something happened to her!). It’s a neat change compared to other movies; she wasn't entirely helpless, of course, helping Conan take down the culprit.

So yeah, ranking this movie highly because of an intriguing case character, music, and ShinRan.

7) Movie 2: The Fourteenth Target

Again, bumping a movie up because it does have conventional whodunit mystery elements like the manga. I’m a fan of the ABC Murder set-up in this case, although the motive was nonsense (sommelier killing people because he lost his sense of taste).

Hm, it was interesting to have a look at Kogoro and Eri’s past, but I don’t take it as canon unless Gosho confirms it in some way.

There’s Damsel Ran being taken as a hostage at the end, but at least it’s somewhat balanced out by her having saved Conan from drowning earlier.

8) Movie 1: The Time Bombed Skyscraper

Another nonsense motive! A culprit who blows up buildings because they aren’t perfectly symmetrical!

Nevertheless, having a Professor Moriarty-inspired villain who has a grudge against Shinichi is very cool. I was interested by the bomb deduction aspect of this case.

And there’s good ShinRan, too. Ran planning on taking Shinichi out to a movie date since he always forgets his birthday - Shinichi saying they might die together – and I love how Moriya’s bomb trick completely backfired, because Ran didn’t want to cut ‘the red string of fate.’  

9) Movie 14: The Lost Ship in the Sky

My quibble with this movie is that there’s too much peril/action – a hostage situation with robbery and faked biological terror, not really a conventional mystery.

But Kid is so much fun in this movie. When it comes to pairings, this movie is great.

You have Kid jumping off the airship to save a falling Conan! And Kaito disguising himself as Shinichi and flirting with Ran. And Kaito dorkily interacting with goats, and him and Conan working together to get back to the blimp.

I remember being confused when I saw Shinichi/Ran/Kid fics around. But after watching the movies, it makes so much sense.

10) Movie 8: Magician of the Silver Sky

The murder case in this movie was rushed and pretty much irrelevant – a makeup artist killed an actress with poison. Which was the excuse for the below to happen.

Like. Basically, the ending conflict of this movie is CAN CONAN, KAITOU KID, AND RAN SAFELY LAND AN AIRPLANE????

--It's shippy, though. You know what I was saying about Shinichi/Ran/Kid? This is another movie that's good for that.

11) Movie 18: Dimensional Sniper

Akai is so damned cool in Movie 18. I unabashedly love how he's the best sniper EVAR in-universe.

The inclusion of Sera is also a plus. She has a motorcycle chase scene! And aw, Akai visiting her in the hospital.

Also: the one line where Sera says Shinichi is the only one who could pierce Ran's heart ~for now~? It's totally about Sera having a crush on Ran and you can't convince me otherwise.

However, the plot is like complete Ameriboo(?) SEALS!!! nonsense, coupled with iffy English voice acting. Half of the time, Conan does ridiculous stunts midair that manage to be over-the-top even for a DC movie.

12) Movie 6: Phantom of Baker Street

Looking down at my notes in Google Keep, and the first sentence I wrote was: 'Depressing as fuck.'  

Movie 6 honestly feels very out of step with the other DC movies. It opens with a suicide, ends with a suicide, and there's a monologue by Haibara in the beginning about how Japan has a culture of conformity (I know, some anvils need to be dropped, but it still feels out of place).

The premise is also ridiculous – a virtual video game? A descendant of Jack the Ripper? -- and I see I am still a bit grumpy at Agasa and Yusaku for designing a game where Irene Adler is Holmes' sort of love interest. Irene Adler would never etc., etc.

But it's still kind of fun. I'm on the fence about virtual video game plots – it's something that kind of weirdly spooked me as a kid, that Spy Kids movie and a Scooby Doo episode, but I also enjoyed them.

13) Movie 21: The Crimson Love Letter

A Hattori movie! I wish I could have liked it more, but I'm not very invested in Kazuha/Hattori, although Kazuha was definitely cute in her determination, bless. Wish Momiji got more to do except the love triangle business, since she's a detective, too, gdi. The karuta games were fun to watch, although the movie mainly made it montage-y. It's a neat tidbit that Hattori's mom used to be a karuta champion. As for the case...at least there is a case, since some of the past movies have been more on the action side than mystery. (The ridiculous physics defying jumps are still intact. Hattori catching Conan while he was falling from a building! Hattori and Kazuha making a cliff jump on a motorcycle!)

I think the case + tragic twist worked pretty well; the motive wasn't too ridiculous, even if the execution was.

It's always great to see the chipmunk inspector~

14) Movie 19: Sunflowers of Inferno

This is a Kaitou Kid movie, and yet I was actually...bored.

The whole confusing sequence of events would have gone much smoother if Kaito and Shinichi communicated in some way. It was like the Magic Lovers' Murder Case level of not-communicating, but more (at least Kaito was justified then, because (1) he didn't know the culprit's exact aim eg. murder, (2) he was probably having traumatizing flashbacks of his dad, and (3) Conan was sick during most of that case anyway and they had yet to build any sort of a rapport based on puppy-saving or anything.)

Anyway, this movie had yet another absurd motive: 'Let me crash a plane and burn down two buildings because I want to destroy three paintings that I THINK are fakes.'

This movie is notable for having a truly stupid scene where Conan runs in front of said crash landing plane. He doesn't have his inflatable soccer ball out or anything – he just runs in front of the damned thing and is nearly killed.

There is no Cool Conan Action Moment(TM) in this movie, like the other movies. That's either a positive or negative, I guess.

Good for ships: god bless that moment where Kid mentions that he has an escape route but he'll have to find another way out so he can save both Conan and Ran, and Conan stares at him, thinking: 'Kid...'  Just beautiful.

Same with Kid worrying if Conan survived, and his subsequent relieved reaction.

15) Movie 17: Private Eye in the Distant Sea

The plot involves the Japanese Defense Force and military intelligence, with spies from a vague unnamed enemy country. I liked that JDF woman character – what can I say, I love adult characters who realize there's something up with Conan.

The twist – accidental death – is just. Agh, meh. Conan has a whole dramatic scene where he thinks shit out, with words/numbers/symbols encircling him; it's so overblown for an accidental death, even with the sideshow involvement of enemy spies.

Ran as a damsel in distress is infuriating. Kazuha is strangely incompetent as well, with Hattori rescuing her – ffs, she knows aikido!

16) Movie 9: Strategy Above the Depths

Pros: a very cute ShinRan flashback about them playing hide and seek as kids, and also Kogoro being competent during the case!

The case, on the whole, is nothing particularly exciting, at least imo. There is also another Damsel Ran scene in this movie that I really hated, because someone made the writing decision for her to nearly get killed over a bunch of shells.

17) Movie 15: Quarter of Silence

Too many plots: a jewel robbery, bombings, and an accidental murder that are ~connected~. There's even a kid who's stuck in a coma for years, and surprise, he wakes up when he hears the Shounen Tantei snowball fighting outside!

Gratuitous snowboard scenes abound. Conan stops a dam flood by triggering an avalanche is another implausible action scene to add onto the list.

Thankfully, no damsel Ran. It's actually Conan who's trapped under the snow and other characters are trying to find him, thank you very much. \o/

18) Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker

I don't care about soccer, so this is not the movie for me. There are some really bad CGI soccer balls in this movie.

The case + twist is alright – it's neat how the suspect was the person the police suspected in the first place, after all – although his way of bombing stadiums is certainly over elaborate. Of course there's a movie where Conan gets to deactivate a bomb by kicking a soccer ball into a sensor thing (I admittedly loved seeing the Shounen Tantei pass the ball around).

Obviously, ridiculous action moments, like Conan skateboarding on top of the stadium. This movie is very focused on Conan doing ~cool soccer or action things and it doesn't do anything noteworthy with Ran, for example.

Higo's substitute player is sure hella cute, but the movie barely does anything with him.  

19) Movie 4: Captured in Her Eyes

I loathe amnesia plots so much. I don't know exactly why, but it's just a visceral trope dislike on my part; I hate how canons/fanworks/whatever will take a character and give them amnesia in a fairly implausible or overly convenient way, and make them helpless and I just hate it.

That's why I loved how the Shiragami case didn't have amnesiac!Shinichi at all, but instead a culprit who gets plastic surgery and pretends to be amnesiac. And The Disappearance of Edogawa Conan crossover has Conan faking amnesia so he can take down the bad guys.

So...I dislike Movie 4 on impulse, especially for what it briefly does with Ran's characterization. I did like how she recovers at the end and kicks ass with her karate.

I wish I could like this more! The ShinRan feelings are real, especially the Tropical Land flashbacks. I can legitimately say that the Movie 4 shout outs in the Episode One remake made me emotional, and I'm glad that it got pseudo-canonized.

And that love confession!!!!

But, seriously, fuck amnesia plots.

20) Movie 11: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure

This movie is...dumb.

Ran fights sharks underwater. There are pirate and treasure hunting elements that feel contrived. Unnecessarily kidnapped Ran and Sonoko, even if briefly, and the plot involving treasure hunters is just nothing memorable/clever/unique/whatever.

This movie is just plain dumb. The femslashy pirates weren't even enough to save it.

21) Movie 10: The Private Eyes' Requiem

I really don't understand the Kid characterization in this movie at all; his involvement felt very forced.

The hostages in theme park stuff and accompanying plot threads felt confusing/meandering and not compelling.

I was angry at Genta at the end for keeping the bomb watch and nearly getting everyone else killed on the rollercoaster. Jeez.

Hakuba not being in this movie for real is a total letdown. :(