May 31, 2011
Summer Wars was a little overhyped for me. I went into it expecting a sort of mashup of Satoshi Kon’s Paprika and Digimon: Our War Game, and really that’s just what it is. Those are definitely the ingredients, but the measurements must have been off somewhere because despite a mouthwatering recipe, this dish came out a bit bland.
The characters are all fairly typical. The two contrasting settings however—the Jinnouchi family’s thoroughly traditional Japanese home, and the ultramodern Facebook meets Second Life world of Oz—are enough to make Summer Wars memorable. These two worlds make this movie’s message clear. Unfortunately, I feel like it’s a message
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we’ve heard plenty of times before from the anime genre. Something along the lines of, “Technology is neato, and it just keeps gettin’ more so, but let’s not get too caught up in it and forget about the things that really matter the most: nature, tradition, family, and old folks.”
The prevalence of white and the weird red outlines on characters within Oz give everything a unique digital look without going all Tron on us. The animation is crisp and fluid, which makes the fight scenes within Oz a lot of fun. The fights did feel a little short to me though, and I don’t think they conveyed the intensity they were shooting for despite the eventual and predictable appearance of a Square Enix style final boss and references to nuclear bombs. Suspension of disbelief is broken a bit too easily if one pauses to think about how the characters in the “real world” are controlling their avatars within Oz. Typing really fast (or just button mashing on Nintendo DS’s and cell phones) can apparently allow Oz to read the user’s mind.
“Real world” Japan in Summer Wars is as engaging as the slick iPod future Oz. All the right details are there. The trains, the cicada sounds, the architecture, even the way people dress, talk, and interact—it’s a very accurate picture of Japan as it is today. That’s particularly important in Summer Wars, not just because Japan’s a fascinating place, but because the people behind this movie really want the viewer to notice and appreciate the graceful coexistence of new and old, young and elderly, traditional and progressive.
The plot holds very few surprises. You’ve met these characters before, and you know their story. Everything pretty much falls into place just the way you expect it to. Summer Wars doesn’t really do anything new, but it does do what it does with considerable style.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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