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USD $1 ₱ 56.28 0.0000 March 27, 2024
March 26, 2024
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‘Sunflowers of Inferno’ is Pretty Silly, Even for ‘Detective Conan’

There is some educational value in this film, which touches on the history of Vincent Van Gogh and his paintings, and occasionally constructs sequences that explain the effects of differential air and water pressure.

Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno begins at an auction, where it is revealed that one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers paintings has been recovered. It is immediately bought by Japanese tycoon Suzuki, who reveals his intentions to gather all seven of the surviving Sunflowers paintings for a grand exhibition. But just as he announces this, the thief known as the Kaitou Kid makes his presence known. Kid detective Conan Edogawa and his friends help protect the paintings, while trying to figure out what the Kaitou Kid is really up to.

There is some educational value in this film, which touches on the history of Vincent Van Gogh and his paintings, and occasionally constructs sequences that explain the effects of differential air and water pressure. Detective Conan has always been interesting in that way, the series committed to embedding random historical and scientific facts within its often ludicrous investigative framework. It has always been dubious whether or not this approach is effective, but one can certainly appreciate the commitment to educating the masses.

But this approach is generally more effective when the case itself is compelling. This one relies too much on the intrigue of the Kaitou Kid's hidden motivations, and that calls for too much familiarity with the continuing events of the long-running series. There's very little actual investigating being done, the plot doing a poor job of building a case. It instead throws in one twist after another, the film making a series of ridiculous revelations in its final act that try to explain the away a series dubious motivations.

It just isn't a very well constructed mystery. We don’t really get to know much about the suspects until the very end of the film. The story plays at emotional backstories that are revealed far too late to matter. The film asks us to care about the stories of characters that spend most of the movie in the background. They are benign for so long that the threat just doesn’t register. And when the villain is finally revealed, the motive for the crime is so bizarre that the main character basically points out that it doesn’t really make any sense.

At the very least, the film looks pretty good. The art style of Detective Conan will always be a hit-or-miss proposition for people, but the film puts together some really dynamic sequences. Any scene with the Kaitou Kid will always have some visual interest to it, and there’s plenty of that here. One must note, however, that the English subtitles for this release are spotty at best. One can get the general idea, but there are a few glaring and puzzling mistakes. There is a point in the film where “Lake Rock” is subtitled as “Ray Croc.” One can’t fathom how that mistake is made.

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Detective Conan has always been a little ridiculous. It is, after all, the story of a teenage detective stuck in the body of a child. But within that framework, it is still capable of delivering compelling cases built on airtight logic. Fans will of course want to see this film, but those only mildly invested in the property can probably skip it. It just doesn’t hold together as a mystery. All the movie is really doing is capitalizing on the popularity of one of its characters. As far as fanservice goes, it does all right. But those expecting more will be pretty disappointed.

My Rating:

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