Hello All,
You know I consider myself very lucky that, in doing this, I get a chance to discuss my love of movies with people. Even if I take a movie that people like or dislike and say the opposite, I usually don’t get a lot of actual anger or hate towards me for it. At the end of the day this blog is simply my opinion, and I’m a big believer in the philosophy of if you like a movie regardless of what anyone else says, then you are lucky enough to have a more unique experience.
But this time though, I feel like I might get some people annoyed with what I have to say about one of these films, as people have been seriously saying that this might be one of the best anime films in quite a long time, and many people were up in arms about it’s lack of inclusion at the last academy awards ceremony, even though I’m not sure if it met the screening qualifications that the academy requires for nomination. If you haven’t realized by now, I am talking about Your Name. I also want to point out that I am finally reviewing it now, despite the fact that it technically came out last year. However, it’s making it’s debut in my area in 2017, and even rotten tomatoes has it’s year listed as 2017 so screw it, my blog, my rules, it’s a 2017 film. Before we get to that film though, we have a live action film from China to talk about first, so let’s get to it shall we?
The Devotion of Suspect X Review
Plot Summary - Tang Chuan (Wang Kai) is a renowned physicist who often helps with police cases. When a murder investigation finds him running into an old friend who knows the suspect, he begins to think his friend might be more involved than he’s letting on.
Pros - As police procedurals go, it’s fairly standard except in the fact that it actually devotes a lot of time to showing you the suspects and how they are coping with everything going on, which is actually a nice touch that really does humanize them. The characters could be considered one note archetypes, but they do manage to each have pretty distinct personalities inside of them. The twists and turns in the story are well told and actually really well done at times.
Cons - There is one slight object in the movie, and I won’t say what it is, but it’s involvement in a rather key moment in the film is probably the silliest aspect in an otherwise straightforward film, that it kind of just takes you out of the moment. I wouldn’t say the film doesn’t recover from it, but it’s a serious halt to your suspension of disbelief. Plus the thing itself just looks goofy as fuck.
Final Score - 9/10
Aside from an admittedly huge hiccup, it’s a pretty well told mystery thriller. If you’re in the mood for foreign mysteries, check it out.
Your Name Review
(Note: Since I watched the film in Japanese with English Subtitles, I’m going to credit the japanese actors names.)
Plot Summary - Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) is a high school girl living in rural Japan, who wishes she could live in Tokyo. When she and Tokyo high school boy Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) begin to switch bodies intermittently, they begin communicating to each other whenever they switch bodies. When a comet passes overhead however, it threatens to break their bond, and leads them both on a path that will see them change the course of history.
Pros - The animation in this film is just simply stunning. The details and colours in every scene are just breathtaking, and it’s honestly the stand out thing about this film above everything else that reigns supreme. The main characters are also distinctive, and their stories, while intertwined with each other, manage to also have their own character arcs while separated from each other.
Cons - Okay, without spoiling it, there’s a point in the film that really kicks the story into it’s main plotline, and while it’s a great moment, what follows afterwards just raises a ton of questions as to what’s happening, some of which I feel like don’t get answered all that well. Now while some things are both hinted at, and feel like they’re left intentionally vague in order for you to fill in the gaps, there’s just a couple of really important questions that I feel like could’ve used some slightly better explanations. It just makes the movie kind of two really different parts that are only somewhat well connected. There’s also a couple of aspects of them switching bodies that they don’t really explain well that, again, are only really hinted at, but not really explored beyond that. I don’t mind vagueness, but it feels like the reasons they hint at are more like hand wave explanations. Since this is also a romance film, they do have some typical romance cliches that irk me to death.
Final Score - 8/10
If vagueness is not for you, I’d say stay away. If you’re an anime fan, even if just a minor one, definitely check it out. If I can give ghost in the shell high marks for beauty over substance, I can easily do it here too.
Next: Personal Shopper & The Zookeeper’s Wife - It’s another double, I’m on a roll, you can’t stop me, I’m all over it! (Bonus Points if you get my reference there.)
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Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.
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