Summer Wars

The story begins with Natsuki inviting a school acquaintance, Kenji, up to join her at a family reunion. Her grandma is going to be turning 90 and it turns out she wants Kenji there to pose as her fiancé. From that point, you may think you can guess the story beats the story will take. The relationship may start off on a lie but then they will develop real feelings for each other. But man does this movie take some wild turns. Like many of Hosoda's films, "Summer Wars" juggles a lot of stories. There is the fake fiancé story between Natsuki and Kenji. There is a baseball tournament going on. Natsuki has an estranged uncle that her family hates. And then there is a big cybersecurity breach. This is the plot point the movie spends most of its time. I really can't think of any other movie that begins as a romantic comedy but then spirals into a plot about preventing the end of the world. The movie is beautifully animated, and voice acted. The English dub is full of Funimation alum. As you listen you can hear the familiar voices of DBZ's Yamcha, 17, Tien and Trunks. It may sound odd, but it is a nice to have voice actors be the ones that voice act in the animated film, and not celebrities. The movie does a good job hitting a variety of emotional beats. When it is sad, it is legitimately sad. When a joke lands, it is pretty funny. And when the movie throws down an action scene, it can generate a lot of hype. My main problem with the film is just that it digs itself too wide. It is a mile wide but a foot deep. There is so much going on, that nothing is given the proper time to develop. The action scenes are well animated, but they take place in a world that I don't understand the rules. It doesn't help that a lot of the story revolves around a card game that I've never seen before. By the time the movie returns to its original storyline, I nearly forgot that Natsuki was even in this film. Overall, the film is really good. It could just benefit from narrowing down its focus. Sometimes less is more, but I could still go for some more of summer.

Pitch Perfect, critics have to taste

Summer Wars definitely had me rolling my eyes and feeling frustrated as I watched this mishmash of different themes. Individually, some of these themes could have been enjoyable, but when combined in this childish "Digimon Break the Internet" mashup, it's hard to take anything seriously.

The visuals were nice, but the story/plot made me remember the emoji movie existed, enough said.

This movie is a gem, absolutely ahead of its time! Can't believe Summer Wars was released 15 years ago and still so relatable, what's shown as fiction in this movie, now resonates with our reality. A few highlights include growing popularity of digital avatars, the extent of digital penetration in our everyday lives to the point where it's absence seem unimaginable and highly disruptive, all subtly interwoven within a web of family relationships. A thrilling, insightful yet heartwarming cyberpunk anime! Bet, you will be surprised ;)

Great characters we care and root for . A simple plot about coming of age, family, redemption, identity.

One of my favorite movies ever. Its blend of drama and high stakes with super cool characters and amazing animation, this film truly is anything you could've asked for.

One of my favorite movies ever. Its blend of drama and high stakes with super cool characters and amazing animation, this film truly is anything you could've asked for.

The use of a modelling algorithm on the tram to calculate my sister's birthday week, as opposed to cracking the RSA code later, is a brainwave only a science guy could come up with ...... Overall, great brainstorming, well made, minus points for plot and sensationalism.

A summer that's full of love, family, computer games, and even war between relatives next to the fate of the world Welcome to Oz: a virtual world where any online users can interact and battle each other They can choose any avatar they wish from animals to warriors, set up their residences, handle finances, play video games, listen to music, watch movies and so forth A high school maintenance checker/math genius Kenji for Oz volunteers to help a girl Netsuki....little does he know that she wants him to pose as his fiancé for her family So things get awkward as you'd imagine Then to complicate things an ultimate evil artificial intelligence is born inside Oz affecting the real world to the point of nuclear destruction Kenji has to figure out a way to shut it down while also keeping Netsuki's family's composure together The digital world looks incredible combining hand drawn animation with CGI, the avatars are very distinct, the environments look incredible Plus the chaos this AI is causing from traffic systems to emergency services to communications to utilities to technical issues to transportation is scary The real problem with putting privileges online is that it's easier and people assume it's safe but it's also hackable This movie does have real-world applications since a cyber attack is possible messing with all of our conveniences and reliance on digital safety measures It definitely brought me back to 'Digimon: The Movie' with the fate of the internet being in jeopardy The family aspect is good but I was more engaged with the digital realm, maybe because the filmmakers can't keep their plot in a single straightforward narrative Real-world drama and virtual dynamics still work hand-in-hand watching this whole unit of people work together and get past their petty issues Really creative when it comes to the digital domain even if it does get convoluted with all its technical jargon Serves as really great reactionary technophobia with family being the central component