Case Closed: The Phantom Of Baker Street - DVD Review

"Case Closed: The Phantom Of Baker Street", as an independent movie of the series, works well in congruence with the present thought pattern in popular culture mixing elements of cyber life with stories of methodical thinking like the Sherlock Holmes mythos. Granted the aspect of the young players learning how to better themselves through sacrifice is a noble one but the structure plays on the aspect of consequence. The lead character, a young man who is reverted to the body of a child while still retaining the intellect, comes off as a bit condescending. The true cinematic elements don't kick until the climactic train sequence but the bridging mechanisms are fairly vague in terms of story threads. The true redemptive element revolves around the fact that the ideology running the program (himself a child genius that kills his human form by jumping off a high rise in the opening moments) wants to "reset" Japan, feeling that the country has become too conscious of itself in forgetting the aspects of motivation and respect. It is an interesting concept which ties itself up too nicely, being that it is a more age appropriate anime but the thought process still is sound. As usual, the original Mandarin track plays more serious in texture though there is less of a cultural gap than usual as the structure of a period thriller comes into play. The animation is more driven by character than cinematic superlatives which also plays against type but ultimately doesn't set the adventure aside from others before it. The trailers also highlight the cross section of the continuations. "Sgt. Frog" as usual has the humor wound up tight but it is the liquid "Soul Eater" that wows with its tenacity. Out of 5, I give "Case Closed: The Phantom Of Baker Street" a 2.