Review of Suzume

This is not as frustrating a watch as Weathering With You, but it suffers from many of the same problems. In a story built on an existential crisis for many in Japan, of course the writers thought it was still important to fit in a hamfisted, half-baked romance for which the lead goes so far as to try to sacrifice herself. The most fantastical creatures in the bunch largely remain unexplained by the end, with the main one (nicknamed Daijin) having its entire modus operandi explained as trying to become the lead's cat for... reasons. I guess she was nice to it once. The mainthreat throughout is a mindless gargantuan creature that acts because that's just how things work in this world, and much of the narrative becomes a fetch quest with no real plan of what to do when they fetch it. All that and the fact that the MC seems to be inherently trusted by everyone, even to the point of being left alone with someone's kids, definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

That being said, this movie is, as most Shinkai films are, gorgeous. There are a couple of stand-out moments where they really get to flex. It helps that there's some explanation for why the characters end up in the right places at the right time. The entire concept of a dimension within a door is really cool and beautifully realized. I wish they'd spent a little time elucidating why these doors were opening in ruins beyond just saying that these are the boundary between life and death (I thought they could have done something interesting with relating it to liminal spaces), but it certainly made for a variety of environments and travel shots.

It's not bad, but it's definitely messy and the ending did not help. It's a beautiful experience that left me empty, worth the watch for spectacle alone, but little else.