The 29th cinematic outing for the pint-sized detective Conan Edogawa (voiced by Minami Takayama) arrives hot on the heels of last year's One-Eyed Flashback. This time, the franchise seems to have taken a cue from Akira: the opening 10 minutes introduce a seemingly phantom headless biker racing past Conan's group in the countryside, followed by three more choppers tearing up a Yokohama freeway like an urban wall of death.
A Motorbike Convention and a Mystery
The half-pint sleuth and his friends are en route to a motorcycle convention, where the star attraction is Chihaya (Miyuki Sawashiro), the auburn-tressed elite bike cop who was pursuing the felons. However, the real focus of the town is the mysterious black superbike that harasses other two-wheelers. Conan tags along in wide-eyed schoolboy mode, as he often does, while Chihaya continues her investigation. At one street corner, she stops at a floral tribute where her old unit chief Asagi (Yuko Sanpei) caused the death of another suspect.
A Conspiracy Involving Automated Vehicles
Fallen Angel of the Highway revolves around a torn-from-the-headlines conspiracy involving automated vehicles and big data. The film thrashes through the gears of another briskly enjoyable whodunnit. However, it is not completely convincing: Conan continues his habit of advancing detective work through retroactively explanatory info-dumps rather than organically teased-out revelations. With the little guy remaining something of a story device, no single character fully resonates in his place. Even Chihaya's personal trauma, involving her bomb-disposal expert brother, feels jammed into this 20-vehicle plot pileup.
Visuals and Action Sequences
Despite the potboiler tendencies, the franchise's brio is fully on display in director Takahiro Hasui's high-class visuals. Sharp and idiosyncratic character work stands out against limpidly gorgeous cityscapes, with regular use of deep-focus effects for extra cinematic kick. While the many chase sequences do not quite drum up Akira's hallucinatory street spirit, they have their own coursing, scything dynamism that is nearly as impressive. If you can cope with the story revometer constantly cranked up high, it is hard not to be swept along.
Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway is in UK cinemas from 12 June.
