by Cain Noble-Davies
Worth: $15.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Minami Takayama, Miyuki Sawashiro, Wakana Yamazaki
Intro:
… an Akira-sliding good time.
A headless rider on an all-black motorcycle, emotional backstories, children being worryingly adept at computer hacking; yep, it’s Detective Conan time again!
While the whodunit plotting around the identity (or potentially supernatural lack thereof) of Ichabod Kawasaki maintains the intriguing energy of the previous film One-Eyed Flashback, Fallen Angel of the Highway is a more action-heavy entry than its predecessor. And its influences within the American action-on-wheels canon are as plentiful as its old-school detective fiction palette, from street races (and even a mountain pass tōge race) pulled from the early days of Fast & Furious, to the Speed-inspired finale, to an opening pursuit that, between the all-black ‘Lucifer’, the gravity-defying stunts, and the thumping techno soundtrack, is more than a little reminiscent of the (in our opinion) legendary highway chase from The Matrix Reloaded.
Of course, being well-read is one thing; actually delivering on those influences is another matter, which thankfully this film accomplishes consistently. The balance between the antique character designs and the hyper-realistic settings and moving parts is much easier than it was with OEF, and for a film so indebted to Japanese bike culture, the technical details for all the high-tech motors on-screen is legitimately impressive, even from a non-gearhead perspective. TMS, along with supports from the ubiquitous Cloverworks and Wit Studio, give the Kanagawa Prefecture a captivating yet lived-in feel that both adds to the thrill of the more high-octane moments, and the intimate drama punctuating every grip of the throttle.
While the film’s exploration into the character of Chihaya Hagiwara, her familial grief, and the various flavours of personal revenge clashing with cyber-opportunism behind all these newfangled bikes, makes for touching moments… this film is also endearingly goofy, and it’s in that mode that it properly gets into high gear. Conan himself isn’t overly prominent, with Chihaya taking the spotlight, but he’s still packing his bizarre gadgets, his preternatural sleuthing, and his grin-inducing knack for pulling one over on any unsuspecting adults through those means. It almost reaches a point where, because the action stakes are so elevated and patently ludicrous, him as the teenager-in-a-child’s-body becomes mundane… until he breaks out that soccer ball and reminds everyone that this is a series that will always lean into the weirdness, right down to a proper Hollywood hacker sequence involving dual laptops. It’s so cheesy but it works.
Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway is a souped-up and beautifully-engineered ride down a wonderfully ridiculous road. Its emphasis on action beats and sly humour keeps pulses and giggles nice and high, and while credit is due for its somewhat interesting musings on the ethics of drones and automated driving, such maturities are but a polish on what is an Akira-sliding good time.
