Paprika is gorgeous. No missing that. Unfortunately, that's really the only reason to see it.
The first 15 minutes are so heavy on the "wow!" factor they leave you primed for the movie experience of your life. However, things start to fall apart as soon as the story gets rolling. Don't you hate when that happens?
There's a lot of the unexplained weirdness that seems to permeate all things anime. Things that, were they in a live action, English-speaking movie, would have people in the theater shouting "what!?" at the screen. But somehow we're expected to overlook nonsense in Japanese animation. Sorry, folks, but coherent story writing does not discriminate.
A lot of things that needed 5 minutes of careful explanation are given 2 lines and a wink. Instead, that time is wasted on meaningless psychological hoo-ha. The very important relationship between two very important characters is not explained in the least, and the finale is utterly baffling, though, of course, visually stunning.
I really wanted to like Paprika, but it just doesn't quite cut it. It's entertaining, appealing, and ultimately meaningless. In short: a blockbuster. The movie is absolutely worth seeing, but don't expect a new anime classic. Oh well.
The first 15 minutes are so heavy on the "wow!" factor they leave you primed for the movie experience of your life. However, things start to fall apart as soon as the story gets rolling. Don't you hate when that happens?
There's a lot of the unexplained weirdness that seems to permeate all things anime. Things that, were they in a live action, English-speaking movie, would have people in the theater shouting "what!?" at the screen. But somehow we're expected to overlook nonsense in Japanese animation. Sorry, folks, but coherent story writing does not discriminate.
A lot of things that needed 5 minutes of careful explanation are given 2 lines and a wink. Instead, that time is wasted on meaningless psychological hoo-ha. The very important relationship between two very important characters is not explained in the least, and the finale is utterly baffling, though, of course, visually stunning.
I really wanted to like Paprika, but it just doesn't quite cut it. It's entertaining, appealing, and ultimately meaningless. In short: a blockbuster. The movie is absolutely worth seeing, but don't expect a new anime classic. Oh well.