Review of Suzume

When I went to the cinema and watched Suzume for the first time, I left with the distinct feeling that this was Shinkai's second best work to date - not quite the level of perfection reached by Your Name, but close. I also left feeling overwhelmed by how much had happened in these two hours, however not in a bad way, just an "it will take a couple more watches to wrap my mind around what he's done here" way. So I first gave it a 9/10, my main point of criticism being that the plot structure is pretty much the same as in his previous twomovies.
Upon rewatching, however, I changed my rating to a 10/10.
Is my main point of criticism for the movie still valid? Yes.
Does it matter though? Not really. Rewatching the movie for the first time, I already felt it just didn't matter.
The characters are on point in this one, I would especially argue that Suzume is Shinkai's most interesting protagonist to date, and I liked reflecting on what was making her make the decisions she did make. In general, why the characters do what they do is not always made explicit in the movie, which might displease some viewers, I perssonally love it. Shinkai's movies have always rewarded and encouraged reflection on their plots, characters and themes, and Suzume perfectly treads the fine line between giving us enough to work with to come up with plausible interpretations while still leaving room to, well, interpret.
At its core, Suzume is a celebration of life, especially the ordinary lives lived by ordinary people. It is everyday situations and sentences that it draws upon with great emotional effect. I never expected simple phrases like greetings to make me cry, but here, they did.
The movie's atmosphere is amazing throughout, as usual, the visuals and sound are brilliant. Radwimps delivered again with another hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, but I also want to mention Jinnouchi Kasuma, whose more "classically movie-score-y" pieces complement the Radwimps pieces really well.
As usual with Shinkai, the changes in mood are well-executed. The comedy is always on point and never takes away from the seriousness of the dramatic sequences (which is one of my main criticisms of how comedy is often used in anime).

I could go on for days about the individual aspects and details that make the movie so great, which is probably why the fundamental criticism that he's recycling the same old plot structure just doesn't stick: This movie is not about the fundamental plot, it's about the beauty of what he fills it with, the countless great ideas that give the movie an air of originality and extraordinarity.