Quite unusual to see a movie review here, but I felt as though I wanted to speak my thoughts about this fantastic movie by Makoto Shinkai, arguably one of the best storytellers in the world. Speaking of Makoto Shinkai, let’s start with him.
WARNING – I will be including spoilers to the movie, which, although they do not spoil much, may ruin some of what I think are the movie’s best parts. Continue with caution, and don’t ruin this masterpiece for yourself.
Makoto Shinkai – The author that doesn’t miss
You may be familiar with Makoto Shinkai from his previous works, with “Your Name” being his crowning achievement. A few others are “Weathering with You, “5 Centimeters Per Second” and “The Garden of Words”
Suzume is his new venture, a movie that is more of a “coming of age” than a “Romance” movie like Shinkai usually makes, but he pulls it off exceptionally well! Ever since watching Your Name, I’ve watched all his movies, and none of them have been disappointing. Makoto Shinkai always finds a way to make his movies invoke emotion and carry so much meaning. One of the main reasons why Suzume is such a great movie is its fantastic soundtrack…
RADWIMPS – The musician who never misses
Holy shit. The OST for Suzume shows how stunning RADWIMPS is at making music for Makoto Shinkai movies. From the theme to Sky Over Tokyo to Tamaki, which wasn’t even in the movie! RADWIMPS has outdone themselves and made a soundtrack that will be forever unforgettable.
I remember even before Suzume came out. While scrolling past an edit for an anime, I found the soundtrack on Youtube Shorts. After a bit of searching, I found out it was the soundtrack for a Makoto Shinkai movie coming out. Flash forward about a few months when I was in the theatre, intently watching the screen as Shouta and Suzume shut the first door. Then bang, black screen, the title shows, and I get goosebumps trailing up my arm as the ethereal theme starts playing in the theatre. I almost fainted right then and there. Perfection.
Also, shoutout to Serizawa’s road trip playlist. That man has fantastic taste in music.
Let’s move on to the star of the show itself, Suzume.
Suzume…
Where do I even start? Suzume is a visually and emotionally stunning movie, which I think is Shinkai’s best movie yet. (Dropping the bombshell) Despite Suzume’s “mentor” being a chair for 3/4 of the movie before pulling an Annie and turning himself into a crystal, he still provides so much along with Suzume and her adventures throughout Japan. The way she gets around constantly changes, and the story that we follow is fluid and easily understandable.
You would hardly see the last few parts of the movie coming, as it slowly morphs into a “Road trip to save lover” type, which still flows quite well, surprisingly. Every door closing is an absolute spectacle, all the way to the last door. Even though most are the same actions performed at higher and higher stakes, it still gives me chills. There is also a slight amount of comedy in the movie, mainly from Serizawa, which helps with the dark tone the movie carries.
The animation is excellent too. The way the chair, AKA Shouta, moves is surprisingly smooth for a chair. The Ever-After is stunningly animated along with the worms as it rises and falls on Japan. I even love the look of the keyhole and how the key manifests and “blows” the worm up as the door shuts. If I could say 1 thing, that would be that the “worm” over Tokyo looks a bit funky with CGI.
Conclusion
Overall, this movie was stunning, and I genuinely couldn’t critique it even if I tried. RADWIMPS and Makoto Shinkai made one of the best movies I may ever watch, leaving me stunned in my chair even after the movie ended. It was great going into the theatre to watch it, too. It made the audio and the movie so much more immersive, although a bit loud. Makoto Shinkai is often regarded as the most outstanding anime director of all time, and with great reason.