Forum - View topicSummer Wars -- have you seen it?
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The Naked Beast
 Posts: 1028 Location: A Blue Planet |
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It was a normal blah Monday like always. I did look forward to Massachusetts Institute of Technology's free screening of Summer Wars. I did not know much about the movie itself except hearing of the critical acclaim it has received. After 110 minutes (approximately) has elapsed, I was in awe and speechless. There was a Q&A session with the director, Mamoru Hosoda, after the movie.
The movie, like most movies, is up for interpretation. I was amazed at the fact that social networking is a major theme of the movie. It was also interesting to see how the young and the old are connected through something so simple yet powerful at the same time. In the movie, everyone in the world uses a super amalgamation of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and just about every social networking site out there. This service called OZ has even major corporations, government entities, and local municipalities using it. OZ also has the ability to cut through the language barrier as all conversations are translated instantaneously into all languages in real-time. Almost anything you can do in real life, you can do in OZ. It just does everything (if you will pardon the PlayStation 3 pun). In the movie, there is a big crisis involving OZ and the main characters who use it. I liked how Director Hosoda compared how the young and old uses their networking connections. It took everyone's connections and effort to save the day and avert a crisis. It was amazing to see how Director Hosoda skillfully address how the Internet and social networking web sites are bridging the generation gap in the movie and in real life. In fact, at the Q&A session, Director Hosoda stated that the idea for the movie was inspired by a visit to his wife's family. There is so much I can say about this amazing movie. Before I do, what are your thoughts on the movie for those of you who have seen it? |
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12skippy21
 Posts: 785 Location: York, England |
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 This should be interesting, the term 'over-rated' was the first expression to enter my mind after watching it.
I still think this movie is very good, the animation is superb and the themes explored were very interesting, but it is not the first show to play around and enhance upon social networking themes. The other themes explored are all well represented. I think the reason I rated it lower than others was because it was very predictable and played out in a very typical way. I just cannot get into something if I can tell how it is going to end thats all. I think Perfect Blue and Princess Mononoke are better anime films even if they do not look as good. Actually I felt the same watching this movie as I did with Avatar and my opinions of both are quite similiar. |
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Mister V
 Posts: 1000 |
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I can't say I haven't enjoyed it.
For me, however, it falls short of all expectations. It's doesn't have the maturity of Mamoru Oshii's movies, because it's a family movie - I can accept that, but then comes the inevitable comparison with Miyazaki, and nothing can stand up to his works. As for the "fresh" and "new" feeling that the movie evokes - well, it's there, but imo other anime does it just as well (Durarara comes to mind). Plus, I found the notion of a social network that encompasses everything (up to and including traffic control and government) completely ridiculous. I get the idea, yes, but in matters of technology - just leave it to good cyberpunk. 12skippy21, you're doing Summer Wars a big disservice by comparing it with the big pile of garbage that is Avatar. At least this is somewhat original. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7987 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I liked it lot personally. Good story, interesting characters; that's all I really need to enjoy a film. The nice animation, with a bit of romance and action didn't hurt either. Of course I don't give a flying rats rear end about the hype and all I knew about it going in was what I saw in the trailer.
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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I think both of these are extremely unfair comparisons. You can't compare Mamoru Hosoda to Mamoru Oshii's movies (I don't know, maybe you got the two confused). Oshii mainly concerns himself with mature action films and series like Ghost in the Shell, Blood +, Patlabor, and Angels Egg (though i guess this one isn't an action film). The point is he is from a completely different section of the anime spectrum. Hosoda was got his start in family movies like the Digimon movie and one of the One Piece movies. In fact to my understanding he worked with Studio Ghibli for a time. But now he does teenage target emotional movies like his previous hit film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. These two directors are incomparable. It's like comparing Quentin Tarantino to Michael Curtiz, it's unfair to do so. Also the same goes for comparing (not just Hosoda) directors to Miyazaki. Miyazaki is a legend that is impossible for other directors to over come in the eye of the general public. In fact I heard that they story why Hosoda left Ghibli was to get more creative control and separate himself from Miyazaki. Personally I think Hosoda has the makings to surpass Miyazaki, his directing work is able to take even the most bland stories into something amazing and now he's working with the genius Satoko Okudera who is able to write amazing stories. I haven't yet seen this movie yet, sadly, but I plan to doing it when I get some free time. Heck I might just watch it this weekend seeing as I have nothing planed. And I have a few friends who have seen it already (one legally on a trip to Japan and the others found torrents) and they've all re-enforced my expectations of this movie. |
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rainbowcourage
 Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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I loved it. It was exactly what I was expecting, and aside from being exceedingly pleasing on the eyes the direction was so whimsical and playful I couldn't help but be enchanted by the way characters moved and the general mayhem. And I liked that Oz impacted the real world, just as credit card theft and other ecrimes impact the real world. Hosoda knows how to entertain--I, too, don't think a comparison to Oshii is appropriate at all simply because they work in the same medium. God, I can't think of anything more different from Jin-Roh. Miyazaki is a more appropriate comparison, but so far Hosoda's movies have been grounded in the real world (apart from Digimon) and are focused on funny, poignant coming-of-age stories; Miyazaki shines in fantasy lands and his themes are more heavy-handed and, I would argue, more serious.
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