MOVIE REVIEW

Ahh, I still remember how I used to wake up early in the morning to watch Doraemon. I always laughed and enjoyed watching it when I was a kid, and when I heard there was this Doraemon movie, I was pretty excited. But amidst all my school work and the majority of my free time being used to practice piano and other things, I simply forgot that I wanted to watch that movie.

Until… my parents thought it would be a good idea to buy it and watch it together. It was pretty nostalgic to say the least, so today I present to you my review for this 2014, 3D computer-animated movie, ‘Doraemon: Stand By Me’, or in Japanese “スタンド・バイ・ミー ドラえもん”.

Now, if you don’t know who Doraemon is or what the movie is all about, it is based on a manga series that started back in January 1970 by Fuji F. Fujio and it’s about this stupid 4^th grade kid, Nobita Nobi, with his blue cat-robot named Doraemon, which also has an addiction to these Japanese cake-like snacks called Dorayaki. Nobita is usually bullied by these two guys, Suneo Honekawa and Takeshi Gouda who are usually referred to as “Giant”. Now, Nobita has this crush on a classmate of his, Shizuka Minamoto but he also has a classmate who is this smart, well-behaved guy named Hidetoshi Dekisugi. Doraemon has a 4 dimensional pocket that can hold many gadgets of his, and one of his famous gadgets is the Bamboo-Copter, which is a small gadget that he puts on his head that allows him to fly. But that’s enough for the character introductions for now.

This movie has a pretty good rating and, as you can guess, is connected to the Doraemon franchise. So, the movie starts and, as usual, Nobita wakes up late and, as usual, is late for school. But all of this is happening while he is being watched by two mysterious figures who keep commenting on what is going on and keep saying how he how pathetic, not athletic and such. So they decide to help him and go back in time by using this totally unsafe vehicle that has the ability to do so. After a short amount of time, they soon arrive at their destination which seems to be Nobita’s drawer…?

It was night time and while Nobita was sound asleep, Doraemon tried his best to get his head through the small gap where the drawer was opened slightly. After a few attempts, Doraemon manages to wake Nobita up and after taking a good look at Doraemon, Nobita immediately panics. And then, a kid named Sewashi soon follows Doraemon and climbs out of Nobita’s drawer. After some explaining, Nobita soon finds out that his grandson’s grandson is the child he is currently talking to. Out of curiosity, Nobita asks his future descendant about what will happen in his future. Turns out, Nobita’s future life won’t be as great as he hopes it will be. Sewashi soon explains how his actions will change the future, and how he and Doraemon will help Nobita change his future. Of course, not without a quick argument between him and Doraemon. Sewashi soon sees that there is no other way but to force Doraemon to help Nobita and so he does. By saying a command while twisting Doraemon’s nose, he forces Doraemon to make Nobita happy if he wants to go back into the future. And so, many things happen from there on out.

This movie had its fair share of nice comedic moments as well as some heartwarming ones. There were some moments where I just related to Nobita as a person and where I got a little bit emotional. For my final rating, it would be a 7.5/10. It’s not one of the greatest movies but it sure is a decent one to watch with your friends or family.

William Anigha,

XI MIPA 1, Level A