Doraemon Movie 14: Nobita to Buriki no Labyrinth

My overall take: I don't love the setup, but an engaging film that highlights the importance of Doraemon's role in the story.

In this movie, Nobita and his friends visit a strange yet luxurious hotel, but end up having to stop a robot uprising. Probably the standout feature of this movie's narrative is that the kids are unable to rely on Doraemon for most of it. Although a similar subplot has been done in a previous Doraemon movie, in that instance Doraemon was at least accompanied by Nobita for much of the time that he was broken; here he is physically separated from the children and ... they have little clue of where he is or what happened to him. It's certainly an effective emotional setup: Nobita's despair at Doraemon's absence is palpable, and the moment when they finally locate and repair Doraemon is a real hope bringer.

If I have anything to complain about the story here, it's that the protagonists' movie-exclusive allies sometimes don't come across as very sympathetic. I get that they're in a desperate situation, but essentially tricking a group of children from a different planet into fighting for their cause doesn't leave a great first impression! Not only that, but they also don't give the protagonists a real opportunity to consent; by the time the movie characters explain all this, they're already bringing the protagonists with them on the way to start a campaign against the enemy robots. Note that Doraemon had already gone missing by this point, so the main group really consists of regular kids who don't even have gadgets to use.