Michael's Movie Grade: A-
A wonderful animated fantasy film from Japan.
This film is simply everything a fantasy movie should be. The world of this film is incredibly engaging and as the movie goes on, it feels very real almost like you are taking a trip to another world. Much of this is due to some wonderful world building. Some moments here, don't really add that much to the story but do so much to add to the feel and effectiveness of this world. Often times, in fantasy movies, simply spending a little time in the world of the film is one of the most important ingredients. Little comedic moments and our main characters' stops along their journey make all the difference here. The story itself starts out very simplistic. Two characters are traveling around Japan to stop a great evil from being unleashed in the world and along the way they must close various doors to stop the evil from escaping. However, as the story goes along, it becomes more and more emotionally complex. While I don't want to give anything away, I will say the ending is incredibly emotionally powerful and masterfully done.
One thing anyone who say the previews should have excepted from this movie is a pure visual spectacle. This film is simply breath taking to look at from the great character animation to the simply beautiful artwork and use of lighting within animation. It was simply hard to look away for a second. However this visual spectacle is always in service to the story and does much for making this story and the world feel much more real to us.
With such films as 5 Centimeters per Second (2007), Your Name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019), Makoto Shinkai has proved himself to be one of the finest directors working in animation today and with this, his latest film, he only solidifies that.
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