This is a remake of Nobita and the Steel Troops (1986), in which Nobita and his friends defend the Earth from an army of alien robots. From what I've seen, this is one of the most highly acclaimed Doraemon movies, especially among Doraemon fans who grew up with the current 2005 series, so what I'm about to say is probably going to be one of my most unpopular Doraemon movie opinions. I can see why this movie is so popular, because it tries very hard to recapture the strong emotions of the original. However, in my opinion this comes at the expense of many other elements that made the original movie so effective, and even raises additional questions that are unique to this adaptation.
The biggest change in this version is probably that one of the characters was completely overhauled. In the original movie, the protagonists commandeered a computer from the aliens and forcibly reprogrammed it to fight on their side. Indeed, the computer barely qualified as an actual character there, despite being seemingly sentient. Here, however, it becomes a full-fledged member of the cast that undergoes his own story arc.
It's a good idea on paper, but I had some problems with the execution. For one, during most of his screentime, the computer (which the main characters nickname "Pippo") is... very annoying. For another, in an attempt to make him more marketable-uh, I mean, to facilitate communication, the protagonists transform Pippo... into a talking chicken, without consent and by all appearances permanently, which comes across as being nearly as ethically dubious as the forced reprogramming in the original.
Furthermore, the expansion of Pippo's role comes at the cost of another character: Suneo's toy robot, Micros, who was granted sentience by Doraemon partway through the original story. Here, this never happens and Micros remains a regular toy. It wouldn't surprise me if some other viewers considered Micros to be annoying in the original; however, I thought he was a generally fun character who mostly didn't overstay his welcome and still offered genuine assistance to the heroes despite his foibles.
Additionally, the comic relief Micros provided felt necessary given the otherwise tense atmosphere in the original movie, much of which is lost in the remake. For example, in one scene where the main characters are looking for Riruru, the original showed them staying vigilant during their search and taking steps to avoid detection by the robot army. In the remake, they wander around calling for her with little apparent regard for the looming threat.
Finally, Pippo's presence removes the emotional contrast that originally followed the climax. In the original, the boys were overjoyed when the robot army they'd been fighting mysteriously disappeared, only to become somber when Shizuka returned and informed them of Riruru's sacrifice. Here, due to Pippo sharing a psychic link with Riruru, the boys are fully aware of what is happening. It's a relatively minor difference in the grand scheme of things, but one that I think substantially changes the emotional impact of the scene.
It may sound like I have many complaints about the remake, but I'd probably think more highly of it if there were no original version to compare it to. Knowing that a more compelling adaptation of the story exists, however, my personal enthusiasm for the remake probably rates no higher than five stars. That being said, I'm well aware that I'm kind of going against the grain here, so this might be a case where I'd suggest watching both versions and deciding which you prefer for yourself.
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