Doraemon Movie 19: Nobita no Nankai Daibouken

My overall take: Not boring, but founded on a house of cards.

In this movie, Nobita and his friends encounter pirates while searching for treasure in the Caribbean Sea. This is the first Doraemon movie made after the manga author's passing, and we're off to a rough start. The story here is filled with convenient coincidences: Nobita just happens to pinpoint the exact location of hidden treasure on a world map, the main characters and most of their allies all happen to get caught by the villain independently after the party is separated and they all happen to get locked in the same cell, the only ... two pirates who have not yet been captured happen to stumble into the villain's hideout and happen to knock out a guard on the way in, and so on.

Moreover, the characters make some bizarre decisions. For example, the reason Nobita and his new friend Jack (the son of a pirate captain) get captured is that a dolphin brings them inside the villain's hideout after rescuing Nobita from drowning. However, the ending reveals that the dolphin is actually a member of the time police who was investigating the villain, so why it decided to take two lost children into the heart of enemy operations is unclear. At one point, the villain also monologues his plan and motivations to the main characters for no apparent reason other than presumably to provide exposition for the audience.

I'll give credit where it's due: I didn't get bored watching this movie, every main character contributes at some point, and it features several pretty cool-looking monsters. However, seeing as there are other Doraemon movies that have similar achievements without the problems of this one, I'd consider Nobita's Great Adventure in the South Seas one of the most skippable entries.