Review of Paprika

Paprika, Satoshi Kon's last film as a director, is commonly referred to as "Inception before Inception was made". With this kind of reputation, especially with the Kon name behind it, the expectations are going to be high when watching this movie. There is no doubt the technical aspects of this film will fulfill these expectations, however the story itself falls short. Paprika is surreal. From the opening credits, the film makes it clear that reality will be bent and twisted. This is where Satoshi Kon excels. Through the use of amazing scene transitions, the storytelling in Paprika keeps you guessing. These techniques work well in thefilm since Paprika is about the meshing of dreams and reality. This is the best part of the film and it deserves to be praised.

When it comes to the story itself, not much develops. Paprika, like Inception, is a thriller that doesn't explore its themes. The premise is interesting; an experimental device used to enter dreams goes missing and it's up to Dr Chiba to retrieve it before the thief is able to abuse the device's power. For the first half of the film the search for the thief is engaging. Once the antagonist is discovered, however, the story loses focus.

In the usual Kon style, the main theme of the film is about coming to terms with one's self. This theme is introduced early with the dual personality of the protagonist and the use of the DC Mini for psychiatric therapy. But it's never explored properly. Dr Chiba's character arc is weak with a random romance thrown in at the end and the antagonist is almost one dimensonal. The only character that appears to have a proper arc which fits in with the theme of the film is Konakawa. Due to the lack of character development and the themes of the film being unexplored, the impact of the narrative is lost. Similar to Paranoia Agent, Paprika attempts to create an epic, chaotic ending, however unlike Paranoia Agent, much less time is spent with the characters, hence this ending isn't successful.

Nevertheless, this film should not be dismissed due to the flaws in its plot. The imagery and sound in Paprika make it entertaining to watch. The character designs all feel realistic, while the imagery in the dream sequences portray all sorts of weird and bizarre creatures. The music accompanies each scene well, contributing to the surreal feeling in the dream sequences and improving on the action. This creates a nice contrast between the scenes in the real world and the scenes in dreams.

While this may not be Kon's strongest film, it is still worth watching. Anyone who enjoys science fiction or just trippy, surreal films in general will definitely find some enjoyment in this. But, this isn't a must watch for anime fans. There are better Kon films and better science fiction films out there to choose from. Sadly, we will never get to see if Kon could have improved from this film.