The issue is that the characters themselves are lost in the chaos and it seems more went into the kaleidoscope of imagery than went into thier narrative. As has been mentioned in other reviews - the detective seems to have the most interesting and memorable story. Paprika herself is simply the story hero - but what is her true motivations or passions? All she does is fight the villain and there is a sprinkle of a weak romance. For example, she almost leaps to her death and she isn't shocked by this in the slightest. While yes, she is outwardly interesting, she is nothing you'll think back on weeks or months later and say, "Yes! She was truly an excellent element of a fantastic movie." Likewise the villains are wanting for more depth, thier motivations are simplistic and two dimensional.
Finally, as is expected of a Satoshi Kon movie, it carries unique and refreshing music that would remind you of the 90's and early 20's spiced with his own style.
So in the end, it ranks a 7/10 to me because it isn't necessarily a movie I would enthusiastically recommend to anyone over others like Millenium Actress. The plot and characters leave you satisfied but without any real emotional pull or investment to walk away with. What you will remember is the animation and music - one of the things that you could trust SK to blast out of the market without any peer to match.
