Review of Suzume

Admittedly this movie didn’t hit me as hard emotionally compared to Shinkai’s past works, but I think it makes up for that by having the most impressive cinematic visuals and animation out of any of his films to date and a more personal story. I watched this movie in IMAX and I must say that experience elevated the animation/visuals, sounds, and music to like a 12. Of course this type of thing is expected to come out of a Shinkai film, but I feel like here it feels the most “I gotta experience this on a big screen” type of feeling compared to his past works.It has the same breath taking shots, but the fantasy elements feel a lot more grand and epic to look at. I especially like RADWIMP’s take on the music here. It feels more grand and epic, in contrast to the mellower, down-to-earth sound of their previous works with Shinkai.

Suzume’s arc of not only trying to make something of herself by helping Souta close the gates, but also rediscovering lost memories of her past, I feel like that’s a story that I relate to more compared to Shinkai’s other stories. Even though this movie’s emotional moments didn’t hit me as hard compared to his past works, the unique approach to the story pretty much makes up for that. Shinkai films tend to have the premise of searching for someone or something specifically to be satisfied with romantic desires. Whether it’s wanting to remember someone that’s been really special to you (Your Name) or wanting to spend life with the person you found love with in spite of the circumstances the world has put upon you (Weathering With You). Other Shinkai films (i.e Your Name, Weathering With You) usually have romance as one of the main driving forces of the plot, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, in Suzume, the romance is still there, but it doesn’t feel as prevalent to the plot. It’s still a story of searching but to me this feels like a more personal journey of revisiting/rediscovering your past and being grateful of living in the present so that it could all lead you to a brighter future. Are there plot holes to the story? Yes but let’s be real, what Shinkai film doesn’t have any plot holes?

Asking if this is Shinkai’s best work is pretty debatable, but to me this is probably my personal favorite film by him to date. While some may consider Shinkai’s works to be “formulaic”, I feel like Suzume is the most unique approach to the formula that Shinkai is best known for. It offers the same breath taking animation and visuals that you would expect, but elevates it more with its fantasy elements, while also telling a more relatable story about the past, present, and future of living life on this Earth to better improve the lives of others and even yourself as a person.

Overall Rating: Strong 8 to a Light 9 out of 10