Meitantei Conan Movie 02: 14-banme no Target

After the success of The Time-Bombed Skyscraper, the movie staff made plans to make the next movie bigger and better by having it center on serial attacks on the people close to Mouri Kogoro. Figuring out who's going to be the next target is very fun. Not only that, but aspects from Kogoro's past come to light that forces Ran to question her father's character(although, people may find the truth behind it easy to figure out). All of these things make The Fourteenth Target such a treat to watch. That said, I feel like a lot of the choices the main characters make are pretty ... dumb(e.g. was it really a good idea to use an elevator in a building that's falling apart?!). A lot of trouble could've easily been avoided if they were just a little smarter(which they're supposed to be). While the first half was very fun, people might get a little bored in the second half with very little action taking place. Despite these gripes, I still had a very good time watching The Fourteenth Target and would definitely say it is a very fun Detective Conan movie.

Slight Spoilers

Story:
The overall story for the movie was quite interesting and reasonably paced unlike the first which I found to lag for the majority of the time. I think there was real growth in this script from the last. It was't so boring that you could tell who did it from the beginning but complex enough that what you may believe to be the plot is flipped around the deeper you get into the story.

Art:
The usual art that one knows and is familiar with and makes it easy to slip into the world of Detective Conan as per usual.

Character:
Gaining some backstory on main characters is ... rather interesting since the first ~100 episodes before this movie don't have that. There are only just a few details given in them whereas here you can relate more with the characters based on the information given. However having seen this movie and the first I would hope Rachel/Ran is not at the center of the climax in the rest of the movies.

Enjoyment:
This movie is a definite mark up from the first. Where the other one was slow and predictable, this one kept you on your toes. The variety of crime and not solely murder, which is a common thread in the Detective Conan series, is refreshing and very much enjoyed. It is obviously not on the same level as the movie Clue (1985) but still a rather good mystery movie that I suggest one should watch if they are trying to kill some time. This is a movie I will personally watch again.

Story - 7
A good premise with a lot of mystery and tension. Unfortunately there are way too many chunks of slow pacing, coupled with awkward expositions, that made the movie feel like it was dragging for time. Personally I disliked the lack of viewer involvement in solving this case, especially since the action part failed to fill the void.

Art - 5
Definitely higher in quality compared to the TV series, but a noticeable drop from the previous movie and at times unfaithful to the style. For example in the chase scenes, Conan starts and stops jarringly with no acceleration or deceleration. Style wise, Inspector Megure is ... way more expressive to the point it's beyond comical.

Sound - 2
Definitely the biggest weakness of this movie. With an already poor pacing, the painfully obvious lack of sound other than dialogue made the film feel incredibly empty and dull. There were many occasions where the typical BGM or SE were missing, like "Conan's theme" during the chase scene, "Ran's theme" during the neutral parts and so on.

Character - 8
This is the only reason to watch this movie. A great deal of backstory is revealed on Kogoro Mouri and his wife, which also affects Ran. This was the first real time we see Kogoro Mouri in a different light other than comical, and even come to have some respect for him. We also see Ran's main motive in life, bringing her parents back together.

Enjoyment - 6
Has it's moments, definitely some great comedy here and there. The build up and pay-off is decent.

Overall - 6
It does still have the Conan charm from the TV series and then some. But it is noticeably lacking in certain areas especially in comparison to the previous movie. Still great to watch for the characters, their history and development.