Review of Suzume

Suzume is everything you’d come to expect from Makoto Shinkai. To be brief, if you liked Your Name and Weathering with You, you probably will enjoy Suzume. There is an obvious blue print he likes to follow, which can be especially good if you’re experiencing it for the first time, but may, or may not, grow repetitive by the third one you see. Personally, I enjoyed Suzume greatly, but there were just some predictable elements and loosely built character arcs that didn’t quite resonate with me, like they did with Shinkai’s other films. One advantage that Suzume has over Your Name and Weathering with You,is it’s world building. The movie wasted no time in establishing the world and it’s lore. As a rough overview, this is a story about Suzume as she’s thrust into the world of a Closer, an individual who assists in closing gates that connect to the “afterlife”. Suzume meets a young man on her way to school who mentions he’s looking for a ruin, and a door (the gate). She points him in the direction of an abandoned town and continues on her way, but is unable to shake the feeling she knows the man and knows what door he might be looking for. Inevitably her curiosity gets the better of her and she goes on a journey to uncover the truth of what’s going on.

I really liked this storyline. It’s more lore heavy than anything else I’ve seen from Shinkai and is undoubtedly a feat to watch, particularly in theaters. The visuals and sound are just impressive, and the world design are equivalent to that of Your Name and Weathering with You. Speaking of Your Name and Weathering with You, it’s difficult to separate the art from the artist when there’s a general format Shinkai apparently likes to stick to, so I apologize ahead of time for my inevitable comparisons to his previous work.

To be honest, Suzume is like Pepsi, and Your Name and Weathering with you are like Pepsi Cherry or Lemon. What I mean by this is, Suzume is definitely a Shinkai film, but for some reason was missing something his other films had. I am obsessed with Your Name and struggled to keep it together when watching it. It was similar for Weathering with You. The characters felt so profound and real. With how they’re introduced, I couldn’t help but empathize with them. There was a mystery behind each one and I couldn’t wait to see it unfold in a surreal and beautiful way. I would be on the edge of my seat waiting to see just how the ending would resolve itself, and to see if anything would be lost in the timeline of the film. Suzume’s main characters, for some reason, didn’t grab me in the same way. I still enjoyed their presence, but I felt everything else had more depth and entertainment value. I will say, the interactions between Suzume and the man she interacts with at the beginning were sweet though, and I do still like them as characters, just would’ve liked to have seen more.

All the side charcters were spectacular though. She lives with her Aunt at the start of the film, whom I had relegated to just a background character and a way to fill down time at the start. But the aunt inserts herself in a pretty meaningful way and ends up creating what I found to be one of the most interesting points in the film. Same goes for people Suzume meets along her journey and makes friends with. All were unique and were a pleasure to see. Lastly, there are two cats she comes across that also help move the story forward, and they ended up my favorite characters overall. One is maniacal and chaotic, but has good motivations ultimately. The other is quiet and assertive, carrying an err of mystery and a strong presence (but unfortunately doesn’t get much screen time).

I will say that Suzume is slightly more positive than the other two films I mentioned. Typically, there is a happy overall message, but something is lost along the way, like time. This isn’t the case for Suzume though, it’s generally a stress free watch. Yes at times I had concern for the main characters but since I didn’t connect with their back stories as well, it ultimately felt shallow. It’s very hard for me to say that though, because I really loved Your Name and Weathering with You. I can’t really put my finger on what exactly was missing between Suzume and the other two films though. It’s a great movie, just didn’t quite meet the same level. It’s possible I may just be overly familiar with the premise, and it felt repetitive maybe? I imagine someone coming into this blindly will have a significantly different viewing, but in a good way.

Ultimately I enjoyed Suzume, it didn’t necessarily have me on the edge of my seat, BUT it was a spectacle to watch. I loved the side characters, and enjoyed the main characters enough. It was a sweet film overall, with mystery and some really unique action elements. There was a meteor moment (Your Name), or a water whale moment (Weathering with You), and it was exciting to see! The cat’s dark presence throughout the film gave something unique as well. I really did like Suzume, but just might be a victim of my own expectations.