MOVIE REVIEW | STAND BY ME 2 (SPOILER FREE)

August 06, 2021

Released date: 20 November 2020

Runtime: 1hr 36 min.

Genre: Comedy

Language: Japanese

Nobita - following his previous adventure - has managed to change his future for the better, making Shizuka marry him. Taken by despair, however, he decides to return to the past to re-meet his beloved grandmother, she died when he was still in kindergarten and to whom he was really fond of; grandmother is happy that Nobita came back in time to be with her, and confides in him a great desire: to meet his future bride. Meanwhile, the Nobita of the future, who is about to marry Shizuka and crown his "dream of happiness", is seized by a panic attack and flees into the past to see Doraemon again, fearing that he is not the right person for Shizuka. However, the duo of Nobita and Doraemon is involved in a series of mishaps in the future, as well as the present, in order to fulfill Grandma’s wish of seeing Nobita’s bride. What takes place, is a roller coaster of emotions, fun and suspense. (Source: Wikipedia)

Doraemon: Stand By Me 2 is a sequel to Stand By Me 1 which was released in 2014. In my opinion, you can watch Stand By Me 2 without watching the first one. At least that was what I did.

PLOT

In a nutshell, Stand By Me 2 is about Nobita who went back to his past to meet his late grandmother. His grandmother had one wish; to meet his future bride. And Nobita being Nobita, he promised her blatantly without thinking it through. When Nobita came back to the current world, he met his future self. During the time spent together, they swapped bodies using a special item. Little did they knew, the item was flawed and they met with a disastrous turnabout.

The plot is simple, suitable to watch for kids and with family. I love the humour and there are scenes that made me actually laughed out loud. I had an enjoyable time with my siblings watching Stand By Me 2 together. Besides, the futuristic features in the adult Nobita life is fascinating.

The movie is filled with warmth, joy and a great laugh. We got to see Nobita's parents younger selves and we got to see teenage Nobita bravely stood up to high school bullies when he switched bodies with adult Nobita. These are the scenes that cracked me up the most.

I think Nobita's voice actor did a really great job. I'm a Malaysian and in Malaysia, we have Malay dubbed Doraemon. So, I have never heard Nobita speaks in Japanese. When I heard his voice, I think the voice suits him well.

ART STYLE

I love the animation so much! The whole time I was watching, I gasped in awe. Look at the details in the trees? Can you imagine what the sky looks like? Spectacular. I particularly love the wedding hall, the interior design, decorations and cuisines are impeccable.

SOUNDTRACK

I love the ending theme of this movie! I think it's such a karaoke song where you can sing along with your friends and be sad together. It sounds so nostalgic. Takes me back to when Doraemon in its early days.

CHARACTERS

All the characters are popular enough everyone knows what their personality is like. I still dislike Nobita because he's such a whiny brat 😂 But I love his friendship with Gian and Suneo in the future.

OVERALL

I highly recommend to watch this movie with your family or friends! Something about laughing together and sharing jokes will make you feel warm and more enjoyable. This movie is in no way perfect, and it drags a little in the middle, but still worth a watch :)

Rate: ★★★★☆

(Disclaimer: All the photos are taken from Google)

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