"Crayon Shin-chan: New Dimension!" The title of "Superpower Showdown" (hereinafter referred to as "Superpower Showdown") is filled with a consistent "secondary" atmosphere, and the film is, as always, mixed with seriousness in its comedy, and there is a serious expression hidden behind the exaggeration.
"Nonsense" comedies have been on the decline for a long time. In the "Crayon Shin-chan" series, the audience can relive the unique tonality of this type of film, which is crazy and free, bohemian but abstracted from sobriety. Although "Superpower Showdown" sets the plot in 2023, the temperament of the film is nostalgic, and the audience it targets is both from the past and the future.
"Crayon Shin-chan: New Dimension!" Super Power Showdown poster
The movie caters to old readers of comics and old viewers of animated shorts. The bicycle chase scene in the first scene, which is used to warm up the scene, does not form an indispensable strong connection with the main plot line, but it can quickly bring the audience into "Crayon Shin-chan" Among the family and social situations created in the series. The popular supporting characters in comics and animated shorts, although they took a backseat to the plot in "Super Powers Showdown", they all appeared one after another and once again contributed the iconic jokes that once made readers and audiences laugh.
The "Crayon Shin-chan" series, which started out as short comics, has long been mastered in throwing and picking up jokes, and it is still very proficient in "Super Power Showdown". The pleasure that audiences get from watching movies is largely based on the tacit understanding reached with the "Crayon Shin-chan" series in the past.
"Super Showdown" steadily delivers the iconic jokes that audiences are most familiar with.
The main plot of the film is far from new, and all the plot directions are not surprising. "Superpowers" is a movie that doesn't need and doesn't mind being "spoiled". The plot is just a clue that connects the jokes. The audience knows that the film will certainly not use a destructive plot to bring shock and disappointment, and accordingly they do not demand that the film use an ups and downs plot to create surprises and exceed expectations. The smoothness of "Super Power Showdown" should not be considered as a lack of progress, but in fact it is a joint choice between the creators and the audience.
However, "Super Power Showdown" did not completely choose to "lay flat" in expressing the creator's intention. The film borrows the framework of the mecha monster movie from the "Ultraman" series, and although the chicken soup it cooks is a repeat of the same old tune, it is still piping hot.
The villain in the movie is Mitsuru Ritani, and we can see the shadow of Matsuko in "The Life of the Disliked Matsuko" and the "Joker" played by Joaquin Phoenix. However, it is obvious that the film has no intention or need to use the style of a social issue movie. Describe the character with depth and intensity. Selecting a few cross-sectional plot flashes is enough to complete the past and present life of this character - of course, not forgetting to ridicule and criticize the abnormal "support" culture of idols and fans with Japanese characteristics. The film also uses documentary narration to enumerate a long list of Japanese social problems and explain the reasons for Mitsuru's "blackening", which injects social issues into this comedy animated film.
"Super Power Showdown" borrows the framework of the mecha monster movie from the "Ultraman" series
The villain in "Super Powers Showdown" is a "waste" version of the "Joker"
Exposing problems and raising questions are the responsibilities and missions of social issue films. Solving problems is "over the top" for social issue films. It is even more impossible for "Super Powers Showdown" to use an animated movie for all ages to complete this impossible task. Therefore, the drag and collapse of the film in the second half is inevitable to a certain extent. However, the film uses a kind of "Crayon Shin-chan" style of innocence to avoid facing this creative problem directly, and uses its strength to eliminate the "final battle" invisible.
Of course, the audience knows that the slogan "Love conquers all" will not be effective if it only remains at the slogan level, but the movie still tries to break through the anxious and decadent atmosphere that permeates the real society and find a way to continue to move forward. The movie believes that solutions to social problems require the joint efforts of families and the return of traditional and beautiful values. At the end of the film, Crayon Shin-chan and his family brought Mitsuru Satani home for a dinner, and the film also ended successfully in a harmonious and cheerful atmosphere. Movie theaters should not be a refuge for the frustrated. If the audience can walk out of the theater more optimistic and positive after "Super Show" makes the audience laugh, then the bowl of chicken soup will not be in vain.
Stills from "Superpower Showdown"
