Suzume, a film directed by Makoto Shinkai, was released in 2022. In terms of hype, the film was seeing a lot of hype and it was getting a lot of comparisons to its counterpart Your Name (Kimi no Na wa), based on CBR.
The story involves Suzume, a teenager who is on a mission to save her country due to this supernatural force taking over the country.
Well, after watching it, is it an element of visuals over story? I feel like when watching a film, the number one thing in a story is the storyline itself. Visuals, cinematography, score, etc are bonuses to the film.
If I were to give it a rating based on visuals and storyline: The visuals would be 10/10 and the storyline would be 2/10.
The protagonist, Suzume, her presence felt weak and the audience can't get behind her. We just know the basics about her, but her background and her upbringing are not noticeable - it just feels like she's oblivious to the world.
Was Suzume's storyline repetitive? Or clear even? If you have watched the films, there were moments in the film that did not make sense. Some moments of the film showcase something which has been shown in the film but does not add any value to it.
With its two-hour runtime, it felt like I was forced to watch it - the storyline lacked direction - perhaps it could be down to how there was a lack of character development?
Now, another Shinkai film which made headlines was Your Name, safe to say everyone liked this film, some even dubbed it as the best film out there, based on TheBobaCulture, a statement which I somewhat agree with - it's certainly a good film. The two characters were made for the film - Mitsuha and Takao, the main characters whom people fell in love with and the storyline was simple and sweet.
For sure Shinkai is well-known around the world and has made a few gems in the past. Ever since the release of Your Name, it feels like the quality has dipped. His 2019 release of Weathering with You, visually it was stunning, but the story was not that strong. See the pattern? His visuals are always a 10/10, but the story side is lacking.
One of the best films from Shinkai would be The Garden of Words - my all-time favourite film from him. A film which not a lot of people know about, but I highly suggest that you to check it out. A simple storyline fitted into a 45-minute runtime, characters, visuals and everything about was a solid 10/10.
If I had a choice to watch The Garden of Words or Your Name, The Garden of Words would slightly edge it for me. It's a perfect film to watch on a rainy day.
I feel that Your Name was a good film, maybe it could be the freedom he has with the film, followed by how he had a long run time for him to tell the story, but some scenes were not necessary for the film, but if it was purely a romance film, this film would for sure be higher on my list.
At the end of the day, a film has that unique selling point for people to watch. Visuals for me are not one of the major reasons to watch a film, I mean, if the film has nice visuals, it's certainly a bonus to watch. A good example is Akira, a film released in 1988, which was ahead of its time and paved the way for animes we all know and love. At the end of the way, I would certainly take the story over visuals; however, visuals somewhat can justified as a reason to watch a film.
I didn't enjoy watching Suzume due to its lack of a clear story and the lack of character development for the film. Sure the visuals were nice and all, but then again, the film is not purely about visuals in my opinion.
Shinkai is one of my favourite anime directors, followed by Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon and others out there, but I feel like Shinkai should put a bit more attention into his storytelling element and less on the visuals.
Is a film worth watching for its visuals or story? Let me know!
Lewis Knight is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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