Day 18/31 - Suzume: Was All The Hype Worth It?

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Year: 2022

Genre: Adventure/Action

The hype with this film was at its peak and I remember that everyone was excited to watch it. Visually it looked amazing; however, I felt this film was disappointing.

The story involves a young girl by the name of Suzume. She's on a mission to save her country and she's the only one who has the superpowers to stop what's happening.

At first, I was excited while watching the film. I thought it certainly had a unique narrative to it, and this could've been one of Shinkai's greatest. It had a nice start to the film and as new characters were introduced to the film, it was certainly exciting to see what was going to happen. Characters such as the chair (who was Souta), the cat (Daijin) and Souta were characters who I felt could've been a good addition to the film but just lacked that something. The interaction between those characters and Suzume just felt like they lacked that chemistry. Especially for the main character Suzume. She didn't have that 'main character' feel in the film. Obviously, with certain films, there'll be that main protagonist whom everyone can get behind Suzume but felt like she was lacking that protagonist feeling. It just lacked that character development for a person.

The narrative didn't do its justice, compared to his previous works such as Your Name, Garden of Words, etc. The story felt like he had several ideas in the film but the execution was not there. Your Name in its own right is a good film but just that certain scene of the comet exploding dragged the film a bit too long this film just felt the story was not well-written. For Suzume, is it focusing on the romance she had with Souta and the story of Suzume saving the world, what is the main point of the film? It just made me want to ask more questions about the film than being able to understand what's the film about. The ending (I won't spoil it) just felt like it didn't resolve anything.

The music is one of the things I liked about the film but I don't the music which was used in the film could've saved the film.

Now visually, it's 10/10. That's a minimum requirement for a Shinkai film, but ever since Weathering with You, the narrative structure has started to lack in the department, I mean, sure some people purely watch it for the visuals but if the story is not well-executed, not to say the visuals will make the film not watchable, but people will shy away from the fact that the story was not at its peak.

It's a shame that Shinkai, who is a well-known director, made me question the standards of his film. He has made several quality films in the past but recently, his work has been questionable. Suzume was certainly a good example in terms of how visuals can only get you so far. It's a shame that I don't like this film. I was excited to watch it.

Rating: 2/10