Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Review

The Lead

The 29th cinema outing for Conan Edogawa, the gumshoe forced to occupy a kid's body, is a briskly enjoyable whodunnit with high-class visuals and sharp character work.

Motorbike Whodunnit Cranked Up to Top Speed

Coming hard on the heels of last year's One-Eyed Flashback comes the latest cinema outing for Conan Edogawa (voiced by Minami Takayama), the gumshoe forced to occupy a kid's body. The franchise seems to have turned into Akira: the first 10 minutes opens not only with a seemingly phantom headless biker riding past Conan's gang in the countryside, but then three more choppers tearing up a Yokohama freeway like an urban wall of death.

The Investigation Unfolds

The half-pint sleuth and pals are on their way to a motorcycle convention, where the star of the show is Chihaya (Miyuki Sawashiro), the auburn-tressed elite bike cop who was pursuing the felons. The real torque of the town, though, is the mysterious black superbike that harries other two-wheelers; Conan tags on surreptitiously in wide-eyed-schoolboy mode, as he does, while Chihaya continues her investigation.

The Verdict

With a torn-from-the-headlines conspiracy revolving around automated vehicles and big data, Fallen Angel of the Highway thrashes through the gears of another briskly enjoyable whodunnit. But it's not completely convincing: Conan continues his habit of advancing the detective work in what feel like retroactively explanatory info-dumps, rather than organically teased-out revelations.

The Future of the Franchise

But the potboiler tendencies don't detract from the franchise's brio, which is fully on show in director Takahiro Hasui's high-class visuals. Sharp and idiosyncratic character work stands out against limpidly gorgeous cityscapes, making regular use of deep-focus effects for extra cinematic kick. Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway is in UK cinemas from 12 June.