Review of Paprika

Paprika had almost everything I want in a Satoshi Kon movie: an interesting premise, great character designs, and some twists and turns. The one thing that I think it didn't do as well as some of his other works was its plot. I found it to be less interesting than his other movies and I feel that it brought down the experience. It was still a good watch, just not as good as I feel it could have been. The overall premise of Paprika is fantastic, its interesting and cool, and leads to some interesting events. While I personally like the concepts for Mousou Dairinin andPerfect Blue more, I think that Paprika has a good one. The story as a whole is less than what I would have liked. I just think it wasn't as interesting as some of his other works and I would have liked to see something that what was a bit better. Perfect Blue kept me entranced until the very end, not to say this movie was boring, but it didn't have me on the edge of my seat like his other works do.

The music of Paprika is quite entrancing, it was done by Susumu Hirasawa, who also did music for Mousou Dairinin and Sennen Joyuu. His music has a sort of mysterious feel to it, and it really fits the feel of the movie. While I don't think a lot of the tracks are amazing enough to fully stand on their own, they are a fantastic fit for the movie.

Many of Satoshi Kon's works have a similar look to them, and it is one I am personally quite fond of. The art style looks a bit dated and old, but I kind of like that about it. Masashi Andou was in charge of character designs and I think he did a wonderful job. Just like in Mousou Dairinin each character has a very distinct and unique look that is perfectly suited for their character.

Overall Paprika was a good movie, although I wish it had gone that extra mile to become a truly remarkable experience.