Meitantei Conan Movie 19: Gouka no Himawari

Okay, without further do, I'll be initiating a review to the latest Conan movie.

This year's installment is still a good standalone film. However, due to the ambiguous plot and some haphazard twists, this movie might not be as appealing as the previous ones.

Plot was simple, Japan through Suzuki Jirokichi had boldly announced to the world he is about to collect the 7 Van Gogh paintings to open an exhibit boasting the privilege to present every Sunflowers to some selected audiences. So coming next like a pair to wealthy old man will be Kaitou Kid, a popular and recurring character who often plays the double ... standard opposition to our majestic child detective.

The movie did start with a bang, surprising everyone the new version of the 1412 infamous phantom thief. He's somewhat more audacious and his motives were really hostile unlike his usual frolic attitude. Though setting aside his major transformation, a profound twist was enveloped involving the 2nd and the 5th Sunflower paintings that has to do with the film's cast and the overall main mystery. Like a routine, it's a tug-of-war between the two cool characters and the mystery intensifies soon after wealthy advisor highlights a series of characters.

So going further, the risky actions of Kaitou Kid baffled everyone. And to serve as the oil to the fire is a character named Charlie who appears to hold a deep grudge to the phantom thief. He was a part of 7 chosen partners of Suzuki Jirokichi and his character's role is to antagonize Kid by labeling 1412 a criminal who murders and eventually plastering him to a title of terrorist. Of course, as an avid fan of Kid, Sonoko, who had some quite a screentime to this film, defended his ideal crush over the sharp mouth of the American detective. This twist was supposed to contain potential, however, this ends here. Nothing gripping happens afterward, even his reason for targeting Kid's life had never surfaced as a part of a logical explanation. So what I did was just sit back, digest the remaining plot and clap my hands afterwards the teaser for 20th movie.

More to mention is the part of the routine where Conan executes life-threatening stunts, of course, Kid's maneuvers as well. Though aside from the two main leads, the other cast played a very minor participation and that is somewhat of a minus. Even the film's culprit had a really unconvincing overall impact. This is indeed a very sad fact.

Btw, there's this Haibara's vague opinion of Conan slightly changing and appears suggestive, though like in any movie installments, it doesn't necessarily affect the main DC story. With Haibara encountering an important character, she was made to realize her lingering feelings for Conan but again, this ends here. Nothing happens... Even Ran's screentime was limited to her crying and acting emotional and that's it. Oh dear... why, oh why?

Moving on, despite the lack of sharp quality on the story, the art and animation department was clearly a standout. This movie definitely outdid the previous films in terms of the points mentioned, the OST where Porno Graffiti performed the ED was also amazing. Unfortunately, aside from these two factors who fully deserved an outstanding 10/10, none of the other aspects seems captivating.

So concluding, like in every Conan movies, the plot revelation of the case started very intricate. We get to see a lot of actions, some drama, goofy moments, however it lacks, the usual detailed deduction show. As aforementioned, this movie definitely ranks lower than the previous in terms of fluidity. The execution of the plot while the movie goes on and on was somewhat poorly done and it will definitely catch the watcher's attention to the extent some will surely display dismay. Even I as a massive fan, find the movie un-compelling as a whole. But please, do not write off the movie as a BAD installment. Though it surely played short on its potential, with a forgiving mentality, anyone can still enjoy this.

The most recent Detective Conan film has come and gone, and this one is a bit different. Similar to the 10th movie (Requiem of the Detectives), we have our littlest detective out to protect the fine arts, though in this case, Conan must save one of Van Goh's most important paintings, the Sunflowers. Is this movie an amazing art heist wannabe, or a copied flop? Oh, and did I mention Kaito Kid? Cause yeah, Kaito Kid.

Story (6/10): After the Suzuki Zaibatsu purchases the originally thought destroyed 2nd Sunflowers painting, Kaito Kid essentially declares that he'll steal it. But since this is completely outside of the ... thiefs usual M.O., all characters involved become suspicious, especially after the messages and methods become violent. Conan and friends are now on a deadline to get the Sunflowers Exhibition up and running, but it still doesn't answer the main problem: why is Kaito Kid after the paintings?

The story here is a bit of a mixed bag, to say the least. There's a lot right but enough wrong that it's hard not to address. The good things are that it really takes a smart approach to trying to defeat Kid, showing all the work that goes into everything behind the scenes. It's really quite fun to see just what Suzuki Jiro does to show off his extreme wealth. All the stuff that connects with the Sunflower paintings themselves is also interesting, and a little heartwarming.

There are some problems with the movie. The resolution to who is after the paintings is WEAK. And I don't just mean weak, I mean WEAK AS FUCK. (Yes, f-bomb worthy weak.) True, the clues do tell you who it is, but God almighty is it a letdown. In connection to that, there's a random confession to a crime dead center in the climax that basically comes out of nowhere and does nothing to change the plot AT ALL. Also almost everything to do with Kaito Kid is basically worthless, and yes as a fan of his, that sucks to say. I'll elaborate more in the below section, but suffice to say, this is probably the weakest movie that Kid has been a part of.

Overall it isn't a bad story, but man, the parts that are bad are standout bad.

Art (8/10): As is per the norm, the art is excellent, giving all the scenes wonderful color and action. Though I must point out that there are a few 'quality' background scenes here and there that are a bit more standout than I would usually critique.

Sound (7/10): Back to basic Conan movie music, but as usual that isn't a bad thing. Though I must point out the track that plays during the climax of the movie, as it was really damn good.

Character (6/10): I do have some positives and negatives in relation to the regular cast. First the disappointing: it feels like they dumbed down Conan and Ai. While nothing extreme or distracting, it just feels like the two smartest characters in the show almost don't have that much of an impact in solving the crime. Conan doesn't have to work hard to figure anything out and really only gets like 2 clues total to work with in the entire movie. It just feels like he got pushed out of his own movie.

Not all is bad though. The Suzuki's (Jiro and Sonoko) are actually more entertaining here than they've been in a while. Ran, her Dad, and Inspector Nakamori are also treated with respect and given quite a lot to do here. Basically the main side characters here are treated well and are really fun to watch.

Kaito Kid is also barely in the movie. Technically he is in most of it, but he doesn't even have a freaking line until 20 minutes near the end. Despite being the main 'antagonist', he's just a non-factor in the story too much of the time. It honestly feels like the movie is trying to play Kid like he was back when his introduction was a bit more mysterious, but by today, where his manga is a thing and he had his own anime last year, it just doesn't work anymore.

With the movie exclusive characters, they are just boring and forgettable. True, Inspector Charlie is the best of the bunch, but he's ultimately not that important in the long run. The other characters have literally 3-8 lines of dialogue and no personality at all. Hell, I don't even remember their freaking names after just watching it. They're close to the top of a Worst DC Movie Cast list for being just there and irrelevant by the end.

(As is traditional at this point, I need to make my complaint: why are the freaking Detective Boys in this damn movie? Their scenes are worthless and they literally serve no purpose. I don't want to hate on them, since as Quarter of Silence has shown us, when given real purpose, they are great characters. But here? They should've been excluded from the entire second half when the exhibition takes center stage. Hell, even the Professor is kind of awkwardly shoved into the movie, with all his scenes being really bad comedy.)

Enjoyment (7/10): I did have more fun with this movie than I did the last one, if you can believe it. Probably because I do like a good art heist film. Granted, as noted above, the second half is where I started getting lost. While the actual climax is really fun, I was just disappointed that we didn't really get a Conan vs. Kid film. I really should know by now that we'll never get one of those until a miracle happens, but I still held hope that this would be the one. Again, while it seems like I'm complaining, I really did have some fun with this movie. (Also there's a tiny call back to something from the 18th movie here, which is kinda cute.)

Detective Conan: The Hellfire Sunflowers is probably one of the more average movies in the series, though it isn't awful by any means. While the side characters are really given a time to shine, the story has some major flaws in its second half and doesn't really feel like the Conan/Kid focused movie that it's trying to be. If you're a DC fan, I as always recommend that you watch it at least once for completions sake, but non fans aren't going to find anything interesting here.

6/10 = average by DC standards; second half is weak, with the mystery reveal failing to impress; there are better Conan/Kid movies, like the 14th (being the best); the main older side characters do kind of get a chance to shine;

This review do not countains spoilers about this movie, so feel free to read it.

I'm a huge DC fan, that's why after a good 18'th movie, I really hoped to have such a good movie, keeping all this promises, especially with a global "subject" as rich and interesting as the universe of the big painter Vincent Van Gogh.
And after almost 2hours, I've to admit that this movie was... extremely disappointing.
Let's talk about it:

•Story (05/10):
I've to say that, to my eyes, the plot is quite interesting. A strange mixture between a police universe and a paint universe caught my attention.
Nevertheless, after few minutes of the movie, ... we quickly understand that it will not be as interesting as we could thought.
AND THE MAIN REPROACH I have to make on the overall movie, is that everything is COMPLETELY PREDICTABLE. EVERYTIME.
Even if the story would have been able to be well-maded, it's not, cause it's quite confusing.
And it's soooo frustrating! Because if you're a DC fan, you can see lots of good protagonist in there (Kaito Kid and all this stuff, shounen detectiv boys, mouri...), with good intentions to mix them and make them act together...

•Art (06/10):
Without being magnificent and unrefined, the global design is pleasant, reminding us "magic kaito", who has finished recently
However, as all DC movie, expressions are a little bit too accentuated. And I hope that it'll be fixed one day..

•Sound (06/10)
Except the music of the credits which is HORRIBLE (Oh! Rival (オー！リバル)" by Porno Graffitti), the music is good, and does not stand out too much during the movie. Furthermore, it is sensibly well placed in action scenes. I really appreciated it.

•Characters (02/10): (DID NOT COUNT DC USUAL STAFF)
Well. A recurrent problem in DC movies.
The seven Suzuki's samurais are useless and without interest. The plot and the story behind them is bad and not convincing.
Besides, the samurai's plot is badly brought to us (moment when we saw the old lady, and when we saw what happen' whith the paints for example..), and WE CAN NEVER be interested or become identified to them, because they are badly introduced, while they are supposed to have an important part in the movie.
However, they put forward too much the fact that the kid became nasty, whereas it's just obvious that we all know what will really happened and what are the real kid's intentions (without trying to spoiling you, which is difficult, sry)

According to me, the characters (Kid, Conan, Samuraïs...) and the plot CAN NOT GO together, and NEVER seduce us... What a shame...
It could be mooooooore better than that.

•Enjoyment (04/10):
In the end, this movie is boring, because of his predictibility. But I've no problem to watch it and I review it due to my frustration against this obvious clumsy plot.


•Overall (04/10)
It's not a bad movie. But it's a bad DC movie.
It never brings us what we are expecting in a DC movie. And all the fan-service in this movie (cross between Conan and Kid, for example) is heavy and deprived of interest.
Furthermore, the story behing Van Gogh and his painting became boring...
To conclude, I'll say that I recommand you to watch it. To have your own opinion.
But objectively, you CAN NOT SAY that this is a GOOD DC MOVIE.
Now, we are all waiting for the 20th movie!

Thks for reading, and sorry for the language, not my language.