The animation is good. I don't typically like 3D/CGI in animated shows/movies. However, I feel that this movie focused too much more on the singing/musical aspect rather than the story. It definitely had potential, but the story didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Some scenes dragged on, making me feel bored, particularly with the singing, but the ending also felt rushed and left me with questions... Not a good explanation on how the conflict/problem was resolved near the end, so I ended up just feeling disappointed with this movie.
195 Reviews
The Animation Is Belle, StoryTelling Needs Work
rgkarim14 January 2022
LIKES:
The Voice Acting: When it comes to this world of animation, there are plenty of people who can make or break the characters, but in my perspective the Japanese voice cast scores levels that English Actors can sometimes miss. All of the group did a stellar job in the performances granted before them, a mixture of laughable tags, parody like delivery, and raw emotion that unleashes the struggle of the characters. When the musical performances come up, the assigned voice actor accomplishes a blend of emotional satisfaction and musical prowess. It accomplishes much of the mannerisms that make anime characters so great and memorable and Belle is no exception.
The Story To Some Degree: Belle's tale is very relatable to the modern era as it dives into the media that connects so many lives in one place, the internet. The story takes place in an app called U, which is all about bringing out your avatar via cool futuristic technology and allows you to be what you want in the world. In this world, anything is possible, and the movie shows the possibility of the communal watering hole and the fame/worship that comes. What's a big favor for me though is how this movie adds more layers to the film by integrating other parts of the tale. Our main character Suzu has a lot of baggage, and her friends have their own vulnerabilities that are certainly going to be relevant to the audience. It mixes these together in a lot of small subplots, and gives us characters that feel semi-realistic. These worlds continue to cross back and forth in the search for happiness, only to then wrap it up in an interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. This multi-tiered approach surprisingly works well, and gives us this mini-series feeling that is entertaining and yet deep the way anime can be.
The Songs: This movie is a lot of a love story component, but also one about finding yourself in the mess of all the horrors that the fickle world brings. While the story does a fine job of plastering the horrors of the modern world and how one must find strength and means to face those horrors. For me though... it's the music that really drives the point home and the scenes around it. Belle's songs are very few in terms of the track list, and the variety is very minimal as well, with few being the toe tapping pop or rock options that anime series have made famous. However, the movie uses the songs to an incredible degree to display the emotion of the moment and really drive the heart and soul. As mentioned earlier, the vocal performances are incredible, the combination of symphony and pop is beautiful, and really reflects the character of Suzu. It's not a parody of the famous Disney movies, but rather dives deeper and despite odd lyrics, the movie unleashes so much of the symbolism this movie wants to show you. Something definitely for a Spotify playlist, but I really enjoyed the beauty of this work.
The Animation, at least 75% of it: Belle is definitely noteworthy of the anime magic for me and much of it has to do with the animation they have brought to the table. For one thing, the design is brilliant on many levels, a mash up of typical Japanese school life, merged with Ready Player One computer assistance, and then further painted with a Japanese paint of Beauty and the Beast. All these styles manage to hold an emotion and magic to themselves, with shading, colors, and a style all about capturing the essence of the moment. Of these worlds, the U world was my style, well there animation is much smoother, the colors and designs much more vivid, and a world that really felt like a warped version of the classic tale. The moments where the animation was heavily invested hold much more than simple movement, but rather hold the entire atmosphere of the scene and it's great to see that art style come to life and feel different from the likes of Nickelodeon and Disney. Truly seventy-five percent of the movie accomplished this and really impressed me when music, sound, and animation worked in the harmony the Eastern culture has practiced for years.
DISLIKES:
Pacing: At times, Belle is very slow, and sometimes gets a bit too lost in the emotion and not enough in the actual story. Belle is very much a movie that is part afterschool special, and these moments do have a lot of comedy and fun to it, but sometimes gets too lost in the routine to deprive you of the linear pace I enjoy. It made for some slow moments, and some wasted potential to really enjoy other qualities I wanted more of.
The Animation For the Other 25% I have to say that there are times where things were skimped, filling sequences and lesser moments that the team seemed to think tertiary to the rest of the film. These moments in Belle are not very well animated, basic lines, colors, and shading that is very bland and dull compared to the other moments of the movie. Whether this was symbolic or just cost/time saving steps, it's something I'm not a fan of when you see other studios put out more consistent work to keep the splendor going. Belle's team needed a little mor work on optimizing everything to bring the full drop, but I guess things got away from them during this time in our world.
The Characters: Lots of players are in this movie, and some are done fantastically, and others are the stuff of dreams in the background to create your own fiction with. Belle fails to balance the secondary characters that Beauty did long ago, at least in terms of the digital world. The cute little AI sprites are great for merchandising, but hold less story usage and integration that more time and planning could have helped. While the human counterparts have more involvement, it's really the cyber world where a lot of the tension/action occurs at least until the end. Even the antagonists are boring, some knock offs from other lore or anime, and do little to deliver the full on blow like Gaston did long ago. Again, build up, introduction and full on use are important for me.
The World Building or lack thereof: The world of U is supposed to be the hub of possibility and recreation, and yet for such a world it's lacking the majesty that I envision places like this could be. Belle's world building is gorgeous when they do it, the architecture of several places, and the creatures have the pizazz that this medium can bring. However, there was so much to explore and perform in, to hide and flee around as the two characters explored the boundaries and limitations this new relationship brought with it. Yet the world of U is surprisingly bland and centrally located given the potential I've seen in other series.
The Story: Truth is the story is complete and deep on many levels, but the movie still feels incomplete and too crammed to be the artistic piece that movies like Spirited Away are known for. Belle's tale has a lot of ground to cover in a short two hours, and this beautiful soap opera needs more time to really give us everything they were going for. Belle is torn between a lot of things, the real life struggles of the characters, the relationship between Belle and Beast, the struggle of the fame and fortune, and even the tragic histories that defined them. If done in a mini-series or a four part saga, I think the movie would have accomplished the master storytelling it could be, but in one installment, there was a lot of things that felt rather blunted and not quite wrapped up like they could have. That haphazard finish blunts the beauty of Belle's story somewhat, and gives it a more generic feeling that others have stated.
The VERDICT:
Belle is beautiful in many ways to be worthy of seeing in your lifetime. The movie really hits a lot of audience types, diving into relative realms of problems that plague the world today. Its characters, at least the primary, have a lot of layers to it, and the voice acting brings a fantastic performance to anchor on to. Then the music and animation, for the most part, help deliver the full ambience that gave me goosebumps and stuck with me as I left the theater. These moments are the true bread and butter of the film and the biggest theater presence. However, the story needs more time, more parts, or something to really give it all it was promised. The story is very compressed and hasty, giving you some great meat for the main plot, while the subplots feel withered and dried out. Buildup, character usage, world building, and action are very lacking though and I can't say I was disappointed in several of the things they had been teasing me with. Still, the move hits deep and shows much of the craft of the Eastern animators and their art.
My scores are:
Animation/Adventure/Drama: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.0.
The Voice Acting: When it comes to this world of animation, there are plenty of people who can make or break the characters, but in my perspective the Japanese voice cast scores levels that English Actors can sometimes miss. All of the group did a stellar job in the performances granted before them, a mixture of laughable tags, parody like delivery, and raw emotion that unleashes the struggle of the characters. When the musical performances come up, the assigned voice actor accomplishes a blend of emotional satisfaction and musical prowess. It accomplishes much of the mannerisms that make anime characters so great and memorable and Belle is no exception.
The Story To Some Degree: Belle's tale is very relatable to the modern era as it dives into the media that connects so many lives in one place, the internet. The story takes place in an app called U, which is all about bringing out your avatar via cool futuristic technology and allows you to be what you want in the world. In this world, anything is possible, and the movie shows the possibility of the communal watering hole and the fame/worship that comes. What's a big favor for me though is how this movie adds more layers to the film by integrating other parts of the tale. Our main character Suzu has a lot of baggage, and her friends have their own vulnerabilities that are certainly going to be relevant to the audience. It mixes these together in a lot of small subplots, and gives us characters that feel semi-realistic. These worlds continue to cross back and forth in the search for happiness, only to then wrap it up in an interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. This multi-tiered approach surprisingly works well, and gives us this mini-series feeling that is entertaining and yet deep the way anime can be.
The Songs: This movie is a lot of a love story component, but also one about finding yourself in the mess of all the horrors that the fickle world brings. While the story does a fine job of plastering the horrors of the modern world and how one must find strength and means to face those horrors. For me though... it's the music that really drives the point home and the scenes around it. Belle's songs are very few in terms of the track list, and the variety is very minimal as well, with few being the toe tapping pop or rock options that anime series have made famous. However, the movie uses the songs to an incredible degree to display the emotion of the moment and really drive the heart and soul. As mentioned earlier, the vocal performances are incredible, the combination of symphony and pop is beautiful, and really reflects the character of Suzu. It's not a parody of the famous Disney movies, but rather dives deeper and despite odd lyrics, the movie unleashes so much of the symbolism this movie wants to show you. Something definitely for a Spotify playlist, but I really enjoyed the beauty of this work.
The Animation, at least 75% of it: Belle is definitely noteworthy of the anime magic for me and much of it has to do with the animation they have brought to the table. For one thing, the design is brilliant on many levels, a mash up of typical Japanese school life, merged with Ready Player One computer assistance, and then further painted with a Japanese paint of Beauty and the Beast. All these styles manage to hold an emotion and magic to themselves, with shading, colors, and a style all about capturing the essence of the moment. Of these worlds, the U world was my style, well there animation is much smoother, the colors and designs much more vivid, and a world that really felt like a warped version of the classic tale. The moments where the animation was heavily invested hold much more than simple movement, but rather hold the entire atmosphere of the scene and it's great to see that art style come to life and feel different from the likes of Nickelodeon and Disney. Truly seventy-five percent of the movie accomplished this and really impressed me when music, sound, and animation worked in the harmony the Eastern culture has practiced for years.
DISLIKES:
Pacing: At times, Belle is very slow, and sometimes gets a bit too lost in the emotion and not enough in the actual story. Belle is very much a movie that is part afterschool special, and these moments do have a lot of comedy and fun to it, but sometimes gets too lost in the routine to deprive you of the linear pace I enjoy. It made for some slow moments, and some wasted potential to really enjoy other qualities I wanted more of.
The Animation For the Other 25% I have to say that there are times where things were skimped, filling sequences and lesser moments that the team seemed to think tertiary to the rest of the film. These moments in Belle are not very well animated, basic lines, colors, and shading that is very bland and dull compared to the other moments of the movie. Whether this was symbolic or just cost/time saving steps, it's something I'm not a fan of when you see other studios put out more consistent work to keep the splendor going. Belle's team needed a little mor work on optimizing everything to bring the full drop, but I guess things got away from them during this time in our world.
The Characters: Lots of players are in this movie, and some are done fantastically, and others are the stuff of dreams in the background to create your own fiction with. Belle fails to balance the secondary characters that Beauty did long ago, at least in terms of the digital world. The cute little AI sprites are great for merchandising, but hold less story usage and integration that more time and planning could have helped. While the human counterparts have more involvement, it's really the cyber world where a lot of the tension/action occurs at least until the end. Even the antagonists are boring, some knock offs from other lore or anime, and do little to deliver the full on blow like Gaston did long ago. Again, build up, introduction and full on use are important for me.
The World Building or lack thereof: The world of U is supposed to be the hub of possibility and recreation, and yet for such a world it's lacking the majesty that I envision places like this could be. Belle's world building is gorgeous when they do it, the architecture of several places, and the creatures have the pizazz that this medium can bring. However, there was so much to explore and perform in, to hide and flee around as the two characters explored the boundaries and limitations this new relationship brought with it. Yet the world of U is surprisingly bland and centrally located given the potential I've seen in other series.
The Story: Truth is the story is complete and deep on many levels, but the movie still feels incomplete and too crammed to be the artistic piece that movies like Spirited Away are known for. Belle's tale has a lot of ground to cover in a short two hours, and this beautiful soap opera needs more time to really give us everything they were going for. Belle is torn between a lot of things, the real life struggles of the characters, the relationship between Belle and Beast, the struggle of the fame and fortune, and even the tragic histories that defined them. If done in a mini-series or a four part saga, I think the movie would have accomplished the master storytelling it could be, but in one installment, there was a lot of things that felt rather blunted and not quite wrapped up like they could have. That haphazard finish blunts the beauty of Belle's story somewhat, and gives it a more generic feeling that others have stated.
The VERDICT:
Belle is beautiful in many ways to be worthy of seeing in your lifetime. The movie really hits a lot of audience types, diving into relative realms of problems that plague the world today. Its characters, at least the primary, have a lot of layers to it, and the voice acting brings a fantastic performance to anchor on to. Then the music and animation, for the most part, help deliver the full ambience that gave me goosebumps and stuck with me as I left the theater. These moments are the true bread and butter of the film and the biggest theater presence. However, the story needs more time, more parts, or something to really give it all it was promised. The story is very compressed and hasty, giving you some great meat for the main plot, while the subplots feel withered and dried out. Buildup, character usage, world building, and action are very lacking though and I can't say I was disappointed in several of the things they had been teasing me with. Still, the move hits deep and shows much of the craft of the Eastern animators and their art.
My scores are:
Animation/Adventure/Drama: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.0.
Deeply emotional and cheesy in equal measure with consistently breathtaking animation
Quinoa198413 January 2022
Never tell anyone that you can't heap on the empathy in virtual reality by singing incredibly sappy and cheesy pop songs...
There's a part of me that wants to rate this even higher, or even possibly lower. At times this is staggeringly gorgeous - and I'm not sure if I'm in a minority opinion that the scene scenes taking place in the real world are much more eye catching and appealing than those in the U Dimension (except for the climax, where it walks a tightrope of like Care Bears energy and one of the most heart-soaring moments in modern film, but again animated with emotional gusto, like that thing at the end of movies where everyone is there to applaud/say goodbye to the hero) - and at other times it's that mopey-dopey teenage girl stuff that's not my thing. Have you ever seen an Anime where the teenage heroine freaks out because (gasp) a boy maybe looked her way or (extra gasp) people may know who she is from a virtual reality world in the real one? Lots of that here.
It's also completely open about it being so all-in on being Cornball and I admire and was involved by that. It may not address abuse and trauma and even grief necessarily in the most mature or well-rounded sense, but who would my old ass be to argue or look down if some young kid or teen somewhere found the messages about overcoming such rancid figures productive and meaningful (in real life as well as the web which is where all the horrors of the world multiply)?
It manages to use the main empathetic meat of Beauty and the Beast, primarily the Disney one (they even copy, brilliantly, that one image of the Beast showing regret after kicking Belle out), while not making it so verbatim it neglects its own characters. I guess this is to say if an anime has to do an homage to that, might as well do it with a pop singer and a giant dragon!
I'm not sure if it's great overall, and it's message about a daughter following in a mother's moral footprint is heavy - if, again, presented with a go for broke attitude for its emotional compass (this is BIG, and it's fitting if possible to see it in IMAX as I was lucky to do). I also wonder if it could bother to reckon with people living as a New Body in U. But I'll surely remember that little and pivotal scene where Suzu comes up with the song and how that is animated and edited is staggeringly good.
There's a part of me that wants to rate this even higher, or even possibly lower. At times this is staggeringly gorgeous - and I'm not sure if I'm in a minority opinion that the scene scenes taking place in the real world are much more eye catching and appealing than those in the U Dimension (except for the climax, where it walks a tightrope of like Care Bears energy and one of the most heart-soaring moments in modern film, but again animated with emotional gusto, like that thing at the end of movies where everyone is there to applaud/say goodbye to the hero) - and at other times it's that mopey-dopey teenage girl stuff that's not my thing. Have you ever seen an Anime where the teenage heroine freaks out because (gasp) a boy maybe looked her way or (extra gasp) people may know who she is from a virtual reality world in the real one? Lots of that here.
It's also completely open about it being so all-in on being Cornball and I admire and was involved by that. It may not address abuse and trauma and even grief necessarily in the most mature or well-rounded sense, but who would my old ass be to argue or look down if some young kid or teen somewhere found the messages about overcoming such rancid figures productive and meaningful (in real life as well as the web which is where all the horrors of the world multiply)?
It manages to use the main empathetic meat of Beauty and the Beast, primarily the Disney one (they even copy, brilliantly, that one image of the Beast showing regret after kicking Belle out), while not making it so verbatim it neglects its own characters. I guess this is to say if an anime has to do an homage to that, might as well do it with a pop singer and a giant dragon!
I'm not sure if it's great overall, and it's message about a daughter following in a mother's moral footprint is heavy - if, again, presented with a go for broke attitude for its emotional compass (this is BIG, and it's fitting if possible to see it in IMAX as I was lucky to do). I also wonder if it could bother to reckon with people living as a New Body in U. But I'll surely remember that little and pivotal scene where Suzu comes up with the song and how that is animated and edited is staggeringly good.
hum...
a-19899-6286512 October 2021
Sorry for my bad English. I'm not a Native speaker.
Great image and sound mastering.
Ordinary music arrangement and character design.
But the plot... not great.
Weak characterization and the topics changed around too fast makes it like an unfinished story.
A little pity. ;-;
Great image and sound mastering.
Ordinary music arrangement and character design.
But the plot... not great.
Weak characterization and the topics changed around too fast makes it like an unfinished story.
A little pity. ;-;
Coming of Age can be tough in the real world and in the virtual one
ayoreinf31 August 2021
Let's get it right from the start. This movie does have faults - the plot does lose its relation to common sense some times (at least once, but in a very key moment) and it does sink a few times in to very shallow cliché such as the basic premise of the virtual world which makes this story move - translating our inner qualities into a singular personal avatar that really represent who we are. But once again I find myself watching a movie, realizing it has faults and feeling these faults don't matter one bit. I rated it 8 stars but it felt much more like 9. Because Mamoru Hosoda understands the human soul like very few do. I've seen already one of his earlier films - Mirai No Mirai where the very same deep understanding is demonstrated, I rated it 9 but I must admit this movie was much more moving than Mirai. Because the earlier movie is much more analytical and easy to relate to intellectually, while this one works on a pure emotional level. I'm rarely moved by an animated film like I was while watching it, because the characters were real - it has a lot to do with the superb Japanese voice acting, I'm not sure it'll work so well when dubbed but in Japanese it was raw and real and spoke of real issues of grief as a formative experience and about learning to stand for your beliefs against overwhelming odds and about how the smallest support from one's friends can mean the world and work wonders.
One more point that wasn't made by the previous reviewers - it's called Belle (in English) because it's using the French La Belle et la Bete as a major point of reference. It's not Beauty and the Beast in a straight forward manner but the idea of Beauty's love as a releasing power is at the core of the movie. See it and you'll see what I mean, because I won't be adding on that issue.
One more point that wasn't made by the previous reviewers - it's called Belle (in English) because it's using the French La Belle et la Bete as a major point of reference. It's not Beauty and the Beast in a straight forward manner but the idea of Beauty's love as a releasing power is at the core of the movie. See it and you'll see what I mean, because I won't be adding on that issue.
Could do it better even if it's pretty
Irishchatter16 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Right so when I first watched the trailer of this movie, I was pretty stoked to see an anime film attempting to resemble a well known fairytale for a change. It just looked so eye catching and pretty much very colourful on my rear view. Also the music from Nakamura Kaho was like a breath of fresh air. I mean I'm so surprised that she never been often more anime roles seriously. Characters were meh but you do get the urge to see what's happening because you are wanting to hear more music. To conclude, I did enjoy the movie overall again with its music as well as animation but the problem is that there were just so many missed gaps in the plot that did frustrate me. These will come into spoiler territory as it will be mostly the ending based-
1. The beast himself- I felt that he wasn't given much of a screen time like we only see him saving Belle, dance with her and him roaring at her to get away from him. We hardly get at least a glimpse of his backstory like the whole thing makes you think it's Belle childhood friend but a kid and his brother getting abused by their father.
2. Belles identity - I really thought the whole idea of Belle was that she was going to reveal herself in the end but instead, she was all of sudden was found out by her classmates and the old ladies from the choir. I mean it seemed like they knew before they went to the old skool eh? Confusing tbh.
1. The beast himself- I felt that he wasn't given much of a screen time like we only see him saving Belle, dance with her and him roaring at her to get away from him. We hardly get at least a glimpse of his backstory like the whole thing makes you think it's Belle childhood friend but a kid and his brother getting abused by their father.
2. Belles identity - I really thought the whole idea of Belle was that she was going to reveal herself in the end but instead, she was all of sudden was found out by her classmates and the old ladies from the choir. I mean it seemed like they knew before they went to the old skool eh? Confusing tbh.
Deeply moving with a beautiful story, music, and visuals unlike nothing else on the big screen
colewaters16 January 2022
Belle is a beautiful movie filled with great music, a fantastic story, a great cast, and some of the best visuals that I have ever seen in any anime or any animated film. When I went into this movie I didn't know what I was going to be watching, but what I witnessed was one of the best animated films I have ever seen. If all anime is like this or better then I am a fan. I highly recommend this movie and to take tissues. Is what's really sad is that I was the only person watching this movie they should of advertised it better because they really have something on their hands with Belle I mean it is a cinematic masterpiece.
Parents I strongly believe if you let your young ones watch anime then they will fall in love with this movie and I also strongly believe you will as well.
Parents I strongly believe if you let your young ones watch anime then they will fall in love with this movie and I also strongly believe you will as well.
Technical masterpiece, messy story
briancham19944 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The animation and music are some of the best I've ever witnessed and deserve a 10/10 on their own. Visually, the real world, the shiny world of U (borrowed without restraint from Summer Wars) and the castle are all gorgeous and sparkling environments with perfect detail and care. The talent behind the music blew me away, especially as Belle's singer was relatively obscure before this release.
The story, however, suffers from many major problems. It was a jumble and sometimes veered into cheesy, undeveloped or nonsensical directions. Let's go through those one by one.
Cheesy - The story has a simplistic adolescent attitude where significant traumas just require small acts of love to make everything instantly better. Because it deals with high schoolers, they have to include obligatory but pointless scenes where they flutter and blush over every interaction (I'm looking at the kayaker here!). The performances in the virtual world supposedly allow the main characters to gain a newfound sense of confidence, but it didn't feel earned as they just turned into heroes instantly.
Undeveloped - The relationship between Belle and the Dragon was very unconvincing as they don't spend that much time together. The character Justin (the Gaston equivalent?) wasn't introduced well and just showed up to be an annoyance, unlike the 1991 version where he got a whole song that demonstrated his personality and popularity. The pointless plot thread involving the kayaker's romance ended up going nowhere. The boys' family still hadn't resolved their issues after Suzu goes back home.
Nonsensical - Near the end, the film turned into CSI as the main characters had to track down a single apartment based on a window view. Then Suzu turned into an amateur social worker and somehow succeeded by standing in the street in front of the violent father and doing nothing (in reality, the father would have just shoved her out of the way). Somehow, all of her friends and her choir group praised her for this.
I give this film a 6.5/10, and that's boosted by technical achievement. This film had the potential to be so much better than it was. It didn't take the opportunity.
The story, however, suffers from many major problems. It was a jumble and sometimes veered into cheesy, undeveloped or nonsensical directions. Let's go through those one by one.
Cheesy - The story has a simplistic adolescent attitude where significant traumas just require small acts of love to make everything instantly better. Because it deals with high schoolers, they have to include obligatory but pointless scenes where they flutter and blush over every interaction (I'm looking at the kayaker here!). The performances in the virtual world supposedly allow the main characters to gain a newfound sense of confidence, but it didn't feel earned as they just turned into heroes instantly.
Undeveloped - The relationship between Belle and the Dragon was very unconvincing as they don't spend that much time together. The character Justin (the Gaston equivalent?) wasn't introduced well and just showed up to be an annoyance, unlike the 1991 version where he got a whole song that demonstrated his personality and popularity. The pointless plot thread involving the kayaker's romance ended up going nowhere. The boys' family still hadn't resolved their issues after Suzu goes back home.
Nonsensical - Near the end, the film turned into CSI as the main characters had to track down a single apartment based on a window view. Then Suzu turned into an amateur social worker and somehow succeeded by standing in the street in front of the violent father and doing nothing (in reality, the father would have just shoved her out of the way). Somehow, all of her friends and her choir group praised her for this.
I give this film a 6.5/10, and that's boosted by technical achievement. This film had the potential to be so much better than it was. It didn't take the opportunity.
Belle is a Feast for the Eyes and Ears
DoubleOscar28 September 2021
Hot off the high from his first Oscar nomination for 2018's Mirai, Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda returns with a touching virtual-reality riff on the classic beauty and the beast tale. But don't let the familiar source material lull you into a false sense of security; Hosoda is not playing it safe just because he has a reliable tale to fall back on. In fact, after years of constant comparison to the films of Studio Ghibli and their unrivaled consistency and pedigree, it seems like the Oscar nomination may have renewed some confidence and ambition back into the veteran director.
Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, this film follows another likable teenage protagonist, Suzu who, unfortunately, is unbearably grief-stricken after the death of her mother when she was six. After over a decade of lament, Suzu still has trouble understanding why her mother would put herself in the position that led to her untimely death. She often finds herself crying uncontrollably, only able to compose herself time and time again with the help of her longtime friend, Hiro.
Suzu's relationship with her mother is portrayed through many wordless montages, only accompanied by the gorgeous work of the film's trio of composers, Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell, and Yuta Bandoh. As devastating as it is to lose her mother, Suzu's grief is amplified by her own inability to find her singing voice again after the tragedy, despite her efforts. The despair and loneliness she deals with on a daily basis eventually lead her to try U, a new virtual universe that already totals over 5 billion users.
U's technology works by conducting a biometric scan of its user, then creating a personalized avatar. For Suzu, her avatar appears as a beautiful and slender woman with pink hair, really only recognizable as Suzu due to the splash of freckles underneath her eyes. Once in cyberspace, the urge is irresistible. Suzu begins to sing-- And she sings beautifully. So beautifully in fact that it is only a matter of days before Suzu finds herself with millions of followers, all ready to pack virtual auditoriums as Suzu gives performances under the moniker of Belle.
Described by Hosoda as "the one I've been wanting to make," the giddiness of a director finally allowed to make their long-gestating dream project is palpable onscreen, particularly in the film's virtual world sequences. In the real world, the animation is classic hand-drawn work, but in U, Hosoda translates the world's infinite possibilities into a spectacularly dynamic CG landscape, complete with a kinetic camera that swirls and moves in ways only possible in an animated world.
If none of this so far sounds like the beauty and the beast you know and love, don't worry. The "beast" of this tale makes his grand appearance right at the end of the first act as he crashes through a giant dome that acted as a venue for one of Belle's performances. A figure only known as "The Dragon" is seen being pursued by self-proclaimed "Justices" of U. Though he is said to be wildly aggressive and ruining the sanctity of U, Belle immediately believes there is more to him than meets the eye, recognizing a pain that she herself has seen before. Intrigued by The Dragon, Belle suspends any future performances and instead devotes her time to discovering the identity of and connecting more with the mysterious beast.
Outside of U, Suzu must balance her newfound stardom online with the meek reputation she has with real-life friends and classmates. Where the usual high school relationships and drama could, in the hands of a less skilled director, grind the imagination and creativity shown thus far to a halt, Hosoda surprisingly manages to make the grounded portions of his film just as engaging and playful as the virtual primarily by mining the material for a surprising amount of laughs.
Where the film does falter a bit is with its final act, and while the two storylines are engaging in their own right, there is a feeling that they are too dissimilar to one another to possibly connect in a believable way by the end. And for the most part, this is true. The film employs some eye-rolling contrivances in its race-against-the-clock finale, but when the last scene's emotions hit and Suzu fully blossoms into the strong woman she knows she is, the machinations that led the film to that point are largely forgivable.
When all is said and done, it is not going to be the final moments that stick with you from Belle. It's going to be the wonder and visual inventiveness of the virtual sequences -- the sprawling endlessness of the online world and the guiding hand of a director keen on pushing his film beyond that. Hosoda may have spent much of his career in the shadow of the great Studio Ghibli, but with Belle, he certainly makes the most of his chance at the spotlight.
Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, this film follows another likable teenage protagonist, Suzu who, unfortunately, is unbearably grief-stricken after the death of her mother when she was six. After over a decade of lament, Suzu still has trouble understanding why her mother would put herself in the position that led to her untimely death. She often finds herself crying uncontrollably, only able to compose herself time and time again with the help of her longtime friend, Hiro.
Suzu's relationship with her mother is portrayed through many wordless montages, only accompanied by the gorgeous work of the film's trio of composers, Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell, and Yuta Bandoh. As devastating as it is to lose her mother, Suzu's grief is amplified by her own inability to find her singing voice again after the tragedy, despite her efforts. The despair and loneliness she deals with on a daily basis eventually lead her to try U, a new virtual universe that already totals over 5 billion users.
U's technology works by conducting a biometric scan of its user, then creating a personalized avatar. For Suzu, her avatar appears as a beautiful and slender woman with pink hair, really only recognizable as Suzu due to the splash of freckles underneath her eyes. Once in cyberspace, the urge is irresistible. Suzu begins to sing-- And she sings beautifully. So beautifully in fact that it is only a matter of days before Suzu finds herself with millions of followers, all ready to pack virtual auditoriums as Suzu gives performances under the moniker of Belle.
Described by Hosoda as "the one I've been wanting to make," the giddiness of a director finally allowed to make their long-gestating dream project is palpable onscreen, particularly in the film's virtual world sequences. In the real world, the animation is classic hand-drawn work, but in U, Hosoda translates the world's infinite possibilities into a spectacularly dynamic CG landscape, complete with a kinetic camera that swirls and moves in ways only possible in an animated world.
If none of this so far sounds like the beauty and the beast you know and love, don't worry. The "beast" of this tale makes his grand appearance right at the end of the first act as he crashes through a giant dome that acted as a venue for one of Belle's performances. A figure only known as "The Dragon" is seen being pursued by self-proclaimed "Justices" of U. Though he is said to be wildly aggressive and ruining the sanctity of U, Belle immediately believes there is more to him than meets the eye, recognizing a pain that she herself has seen before. Intrigued by The Dragon, Belle suspends any future performances and instead devotes her time to discovering the identity of and connecting more with the mysterious beast.
Outside of U, Suzu must balance her newfound stardom online with the meek reputation she has with real-life friends and classmates. Where the usual high school relationships and drama could, in the hands of a less skilled director, grind the imagination and creativity shown thus far to a halt, Hosoda surprisingly manages to make the grounded portions of his film just as engaging and playful as the virtual primarily by mining the material for a surprising amount of laughs.
Where the film does falter a bit is with its final act, and while the two storylines are engaging in their own right, there is a feeling that they are too dissimilar to one another to possibly connect in a believable way by the end. And for the most part, this is true. The film employs some eye-rolling contrivances in its race-against-the-clock finale, but when the last scene's emotions hit and Suzu fully blossoms into the strong woman she knows she is, the machinations that led the film to that point are largely forgivable.
When all is said and done, it is not going to be the final moments that stick with you from Belle. It's going to be the wonder and visual inventiveness of the virtual sequences -- the sprawling endlessness of the online world and the guiding hand of a director keen on pushing his film beyond that. Hosoda may have spent much of his career in the shadow of the great Studio Ghibli, but with Belle, he certainly makes the most of his chance at the spotlight.
Looks Great! Cool Style!
Megan_Shida12 August 2022
I really thought the animation was great and I loved a lot of the stylistic choices. A lot of the ideas involving the internet and music were also very cool. There is just A LOT going on with the story. There's a lot of elements of Beauty and the Beast, The Matrix, and other ideas and I don't feel like they always came together smoothly. All in, I'm happy to have watched it.
A spectacular and soaring anime extravaganza
themadmovieman23 October 2021
From one of the best directors in modern anime, Belle is one of the most spectacular movies in the genre for a long time. Complete with typically gorgeous animation, an electrifying pace, riveting character depth, sweet humour and a handful of wonderful songs, this is a film that you won't be able to take your eyes off from start to finish.
But why exactly does Belle have this spectacular star quality? After all director Mamoru Hosoda has managed time and again to tell incredible stories, from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time to Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy And The Beast and Mirai.
Not only is Belle the latest addition to Hosoda's incredible repertoire, but it's also one of the most dynamic anime films of recent years, blending the classic animation style with timeless storytelling and blockbuster-level action and thrills.
It's a film that really transports you to another world, with the as-ever spellbinding visuals delivering some of the most immersive fantasy you'll have seen in a long time, bolstering the film's originality from what at first feels like a mish-mash of different stories.
In the early stages, it's easy to see Belle as a bit of an update of Hosoda's own Summer Wars, along with influence from Hollywood's Ready Player One. What's more, the film also borrows heavily at moments from Disney's Beauty And The Beast, although that's more as a clever homage than a simple reinvention.
However, because there's so much going on, Belle proves itself to be a lot more than a remake or update of those films mentioned above. In fact, what's most impressive is the way in which it so effectively balances its focus between life inside the virtual world of U, and the characters who live in the real world.
Much like Summer Wars, the action in the virtual world is brilliantly complemented by the emotional stories of the characters in the real world, in this case a group of high schoolers who are living through all the typical trappings of a coming-of-age story.
This is where much of Belle's emotional heart comes in, and while the action in the virtual world is absolutely spectacular, you care for the characters because of how they're developed in the real world, with a wonderful group of friends whose own back stories play in wonderfully to the central action story.
Playing out at an electrifying pace for the vast majority of its runtime, Belle nears edge-of-your-seat levels of excitement, although its finale admittedly isn't as exhilarating as the thrilling conclusion to Summer Wars.
That said, Hosoda directs Belle with such confidence that it's a mesmerising watch at every moment, boosted further by a couple of spectacular and memorable songs that are both fun to listen to, and play nicely into the film's narrative arc.
All in all, I had a whale of a time with Belle. A genuinely thrilling watch from start to finish, the film is a spectacular combination of many of director Mamoru Hosoda's best films, along with homages to a number of others. However, with fresh storytelling, fast pacing, gorgeous visuals, riveting emotional depth and thrilling action throughout, this film certainly stands on its own as one of the most entertaining anime you'll have seen in a long time.
But why exactly does Belle have this spectacular star quality? After all director Mamoru Hosoda has managed time and again to tell incredible stories, from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time to Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy And The Beast and Mirai.
Not only is Belle the latest addition to Hosoda's incredible repertoire, but it's also one of the most dynamic anime films of recent years, blending the classic animation style with timeless storytelling and blockbuster-level action and thrills.
It's a film that really transports you to another world, with the as-ever spellbinding visuals delivering some of the most immersive fantasy you'll have seen in a long time, bolstering the film's originality from what at first feels like a mish-mash of different stories.
In the early stages, it's easy to see Belle as a bit of an update of Hosoda's own Summer Wars, along with influence from Hollywood's Ready Player One. What's more, the film also borrows heavily at moments from Disney's Beauty And The Beast, although that's more as a clever homage than a simple reinvention.
However, because there's so much going on, Belle proves itself to be a lot more than a remake or update of those films mentioned above. In fact, what's most impressive is the way in which it so effectively balances its focus between life inside the virtual world of U, and the characters who live in the real world.
Much like Summer Wars, the action in the virtual world is brilliantly complemented by the emotional stories of the characters in the real world, in this case a group of high schoolers who are living through all the typical trappings of a coming-of-age story.
This is where much of Belle's emotional heart comes in, and while the action in the virtual world is absolutely spectacular, you care for the characters because of how they're developed in the real world, with a wonderful group of friends whose own back stories play in wonderfully to the central action story.
Playing out at an electrifying pace for the vast majority of its runtime, Belle nears edge-of-your-seat levels of excitement, although its finale admittedly isn't as exhilarating as the thrilling conclusion to Summer Wars.
That said, Hosoda directs Belle with such confidence that it's a mesmerising watch at every moment, boosted further by a couple of spectacular and memorable songs that are both fun to listen to, and play nicely into the film's narrative arc.
All in all, I had a whale of a time with Belle. A genuinely thrilling watch from start to finish, the film is a spectacular combination of many of director Mamoru Hosoda's best films, along with homages to a number of others. However, with fresh storytelling, fast pacing, gorgeous visuals, riveting emotional depth and thrilling action throughout, this film certainly stands on its own as one of the most entertaining anime you'll have seen in a long time.
Lack of story made up for with color
cartooncorona16 January 2022
The movie in itself wasn't great. From the trailer I was concerned it wanted to be so much at once that the story might get lost in all the metaphors and parallels to real life. Not to mention the simultaneous story telling. The animation however was amazing. The different styles mixed together, the color and vibrancy more than made up for it. When you're not drawn into the story you're memorized by the animation. An old school meets never before seen story and together it makes up a unique movie that's never been done before.
Dangerous messages and frustrating ending
blatherskitenoir5 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
So, my 8-12 year old nieces would go absolutely rabid for this film. It would become their immediate favorite. It is everything a preteen wanting to be seen desires. I can just see them trying to dress up and sing like the main girl. They would be obsessed. The film is stunningly gorgeous, heartfelt, and the music is beautiful. I am listening to the songs right now.
But, I am never, ever telling them this movie exists. Because there are some parts which are not only misguided, but actively dangerous.
The message that our main character, an underage, highschool girl who managed to become a global, viral sensation, must dox herself in front of literal millions of insane internet fans in order to gain someone's trust? NOPE. That is so dangerous. I was just agog. That is horrible. Do not tell young, underage children to dox themselves on the internet! The "be your true self!" message does not apply in that situation!
There were some other messed up plot points that were seriously dangerous, like the GROWN ADULTS sending the young teen girl to confront a violent, grown man and stranger they just witnessed beat his kids on live stream ALONE? Wtf?? You're just going to put her on the train by herself, really? The ending is quite the let down. I have no idea how she "helped" at all, we don't see her doing anything helpful. Viewers get the sinking feeling she's going to wind up exactly like all of the other so-unhelpful-they-made-things-worse people the Beast complains about. My main thought after the climactic confrontation scene was "you know he's just going to beat them worse than he ever has before, possibly to death, once you leave, right? Because you made him feel small, and he'll take that out on them." I can imagine some well meaning kid trying to do something like that and either getting harmed, or causing the person they intended to help serious harm.
I guess we can imagine she called the police and used her internet fame millions to buy them a house far from their abusive father, but we don't see any of it, and it looks like she went and came back in a couple of hours with zero follow up.
Disappointing, frustrating, and I would be reluctant to have a young person watch this without planning a serious conversation about internet safety and keeping domestic violence victims safe, which feels like a lot of work for two hours of entertainment.
But, I am never, ever telling them this movie exists. Because there are some parts which are not only misguided, but actively dangerous.
The message that our main character, an underage, highschool girl who managed to become a global, viral sensation, must dox herself in front of literal millions of insane internet fans in order to gain someone's trust? NOPE. That is so dangerous. I was just agog. That is horrible. Do not tell young, underage children to dox themselves on the internet! The "be your true self!" message does not apply in that situation!
There were some other messed up plot points that were seriously dangerous, like the GROWN ADULTS sending the young teen girl to confront a violent, grown man and stranger they just witnessed beat his kids on live stream ALONE? Wtf?? You're just going to put her on the train by herself, really? The ending is quite the let down. I have no idea how she "helped" at all, we don't see her doing anything helpful. Viewers get the sinking feeling she's going to wind up exactly like all of the other so-unhelpful-they-made-things-worse people the Beast complains about. My main thought after the climactic confrontation scene was "you know he's just going to beat them worse than he ever has before, possibly to death, once you leave, right? Because you made him feel small, and he'll take that out on them." I can imagine some well meaning kid trying to do something like that and either getting harmed, or causing the person they intended to help serious harm.
I guess we can imagine she called the police and used her internet fame millions to buy them a house far from their abusive father, but we don't see any of it, and it looks like she went and came back in a couple of hours with zero follow up.
Disappointing, frustrating, and I would be reluctant to have a young person watch this without planning a serious conversation about internet safety and keeping domestic violence victims safe, which feels like a lot of work for two hours of entertainment.
Stark Contrast
akunwafor1313 February 2022
Admist the colorful animation lies a mediocre plot and poor direction.
Highly forgettable, and its a shame because there were so many ways this film could've been better.
Acclaimed Anime feature films like "Your Name" complemented an intriguing plot with stunning visuals, "Belle" however banked on the visuals to do the heavy lifting.
Highly forgettable, and its a shame because there were so many ways this film could've been better.
Acclaimed Anime feature films like "Your Name" complemented an intriguing plot with stunning visuals, "Belle" however banked on the visuals to do the heavy lifting.
Stunning
jasminn_tan12 March 2022
I realised belatedly that this was a fresh new take on Beauty and The Beast only when the Beast was introduced, so I thought that this would be a typical romance story. But it wasn't and although it had darker themes such as child ab*se, it was handled quite alright - nothing too explicit but the ending felt incomplete. The visuals were stunning and the songs were incredibly beautiful. That last song even brought me to tears.
C+ (flat 6). January 22' @Regal
Celewa6 March 2022
Terrific drama. Deeply inspiring.
aaa-6926522 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
There are many reviews criticizing this movie. Many describe imperfections or technical flaws in the whole drama. From my point of view, however, none of those reviews (except one) get it right to look at the core proposal of the film -the struggle of a young girl to overcome a terrible trauma through a painful curative process- avoiding adjacent, varied topics.
Suzu struggles to understand why ("why, why, why", she writes) her mom gave her own life -and her life with Suzu- to save the life of an unknown child. As a result, Suzu has blocked her emotions and social behavior. The movie tells the deep process Suzu undertakes to understand her mom's decision and to overcome her trauma. Everything beyond belongs to contextual, adjacent elements of the movie -necessary to develop her process though.
Suzu's curative process starts off when she realizes that her perception of other people is imaginary, non-real: Ruka (which she assumes to be so exceptional) just likes a regular guy and her handicapped dog; the four chorus women are unable to explain what is happiness; powerful Dragon himself is in an imperious need of help. This connection with reality will unblock Suzu's inner feelings to a point where she will also be able to help another person and, through that, to comprehend her mom's impulse to save the child. The justice team is a metaphor of the river where her mom drown; her mom fought against the river to save the child and Suzu fights against the "order and justice" team that wants to unveil Dragon. Meanwhile, unveiling her in "U" is the inner fight to free herself from her mom's death. After wining the fight against Dragon's father, she returns back to her community entirely transformed, i.e. Singing.
Others opinions seem to focus on adjacent topics to the core theme, claiming that more analytical descriptions of secondary characters are needed, or even dispensable, more technical features of "U" ("can people shop?"), if Suzu is in love with one guy or another, and so on. To me, these opinions reflect how we have been educated for the past century by the film industry and the literature alike, which tend to emphasize through descriptions, visual details and easy-to-grasp, intellectually comfortable drama schemes. Armed with this legacy mindset, we develop predetermined expectations that, if not fulfilled, lead to criticism. The question is, therefore, that the problem is not in the movie itself, but in ourselves.
I love Suzu; and I love her dad as he encouraged her to pursue her purpose of assisting an unknown person -and be kind with him. I think we don't need so many extra details of other characters or to know if people can go shopping in "U", what we need is to accompany Suzu in her struggle and to be motivated and inspired by her. My takeaway is that we should have a blank mindset so the main message of the movie easily penetrates us and with it, we can join the forward looking, opening up attitude that she inspires.
Suzu struggles to understand why ("why, why, why", she writes) her mom gave her own life -and her life with Suzu- to save the life of an unknown child. As a result, Suzu has blocked her emotions and social behavior. The movie tells the deep process Suzu undertakes to understand her mom's decision and to overcome her trauma. Everything beyond belongs to contextual, adjacent elements of the movie -necessary to develop her process though.
Suzu's curative process starts off when she realizes that her perception of other people is imaginary, non-real: Ruka (which she assumes to be so exceptional) just likes a regular guy and her handicapped dog; the four chorus women are unable to explain what is happiness; powerful Dragon himself is in an imperious need of help. This connection with reality will unblock Suzu's inner feelings to a point where she will also be able to help another person and, through that, to comprehend her mom's impulse to save the child. The justice team is a metaphor of the river where her mom drown; her mom fought against the river to save the child and Suzu fights against the "order and justice" team that wants to unveil Dragon. Meanwhile, unveiling her in "U" is the inner fight to free herself from her mom's death. After wining the fight against Dragon's father, she returns back to her community entirely transformed, i.e. Singing.
Others opinions seem to focus on adjacent topics to the core theme, claiming that more analytical descriptions of secondary characters are needed, or even dispensable, more technical features of "U" ("can people shop?"), if Suzu is in love with one guy or another, and so on. To me, these opinions reflect how we have been educated for the past century by the film industry and the literature alike, which tend to emphasize through descriptions, visual details and easy-to-grasp, intellectually comfortable drama schemes. Armed with this legacy mindset, we develop predetermined expectations that, if not fulfilled, lead to criticism. The question is, therefore, that the problem is not in the movie itself, but in ourselves.
I love Suzu; and I love her dad as he encouraged her to pursue her purpose of assisting an unknown person -and be kind with him. I think we don't need so many extra details of other characters or to know if people can go shopping in "U", what we need is to accompany Suzu in her struggle and to be motivated and inspired by her. My takeaway is that we should have a blank mindset so the main message of the movie easily penetrates us and with it, we can join the forward looking, opening up attitude that she inspires.
Visually stunning, but...
lenfoire3327 January 2022
Hamada's new film has emotion, sweetness and an artistry that combines 2D animation with some of the most stunning visuals in recent animation. Nevertheless, the plot and the storytelling fails to built a narrative. Lots of holes and some unnecessary comic scenes in the most dramatic sequences turns down what could be the best animated film of the year.
This is a movie you never want to end.
kevin_robbins26 January 2022
Belle (2021) is a movie my daughter and I saw in theatres the weekend it was released here in the United States. The storyline follows a futuristic social media that creates avatars of you in the universe that take on characteristics of your inner self. A shy girl who experienced tragedy that causes her to be an outcast becomes a super star once she gains access to this social media universe. She encounters a being in the universe that is tormented in a way that causes him to lash out against everyone and he has an inner strength that causes everyone in the universe to lose in fights and battles against him. Can Belle help understand and save the soul of the real life individual behind the character?
This movie is directed by Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars) and contains the voices of Ryô Narita (Your Name), Shôta Sometani (Themis), Tina Tamashiro (The Flowers of Evil), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Berserk) and Kôji Yakusho (13 Assassins).
The animation in this is breathtaking and the characters and universe are very well depicted. There is surprisingly a lot of depth to the writing and fantastic character development and depth. The evolution of the storyline is well portrayed and the final reveals of what is going on and why is well done and very sad. I loved the ultimate resolution and this is a movie you never want to end.
Overall this is a very unique and clever film that I would strongly recommend and score a solid 9/10.
This movie is directed by Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars) and contains the voices of Ryô Narita (Your Name), Shôta Sometani (Themis), Tina Tamashiro (The Flowers of Evil), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Berserk) and Kôji Yakusho (13 Assassins).
The animation in this is breathtaking and the characters and universe are very well depicted. There is surprisingly a lot of depth to the writing and fantastic character development and depth. The evolution of the storyline is well portrayed and the final reveals of what is going on and why is well done and very sad. I loved the ultimate resolution and this is a movie you never want to end.
Overall this is a very unique and clever film that I would strongly recommend and score a solid 9/10.
A fairy tale re-told for the modern age
T-xoo8 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It's just another anime version of the Beauty and the Beast. Nothing more. You know the story you know the plot. I really truly like the studio. My best movies are "The Boy and the Beast" and "Summer Wars". But "Belle" won't make it to my list of favorites for sure.
In Summer Wars, you knew why they wanted to get rid of virus or they wanted the hero. Because the hero kind of decoded the code for the virus to attack the system. In Belle, why do they want the Beast (dragon)? Because he defeated some other players and they're saying he's cheating? Just bs. Come on you can do better. And they're saying he's ugly? What a joke. In U, other players have even uglier characters. Lol.
Conclusion: It's just okay to watch.
In Summer Wars, you knew why they wanted to get rid of virus or they wanted the hero. Because the hero kind of decoded the code for the virus to attack the system. In Belle, why do they want the Beast (dragon)? Because he defeated some other players and they're saying he's cheating? Just bs. Come on you can do better. And they're saying he's ugly? What a joke. In U, other players have even uglier characters. Lol.
Conclusion: It's just okay to watch.
The internet helps but also hurts
isaacochoterena22 March 2022
This movie shows that at some point we will be completely dependent on the internet.
The film manages to give a good approach that makes us interested in the story, this has a good development and has several messages about the dependence on the internet by allowing us to escape from our reality. It also tells us that being anonymous on the internet can lead us to believe our own lies, something that will consume us and end at some point. I don't like what it says about depositing our feelings and creating something on the internet will make us forget reality, I think that all of this will generate dependency and bring negative consequences. Although it highlights the importance of human relationships and how they help us prosper. The animation of the backgrounds and landscapes is very good, as well as the character development is good. Although the movie slows down a bit before reaching the end.
It is a very enjoyable film, which manages to deliver the positive and the negative of the use of the internet and its dependence on the new generations.
The film manages to give a good approach that makes us interested in the story, this has a good development and has several messages about the dependence on the internet by allowing us to escape from our reality. It also tells us that being anonymous on the internet can lead us to believe our own lies, something that will consume us and end at some point. I don't like what it says about depositing our feelings and creating something on the internet will make us forget reality, I think that all of this will generate dependency and bring negative consequences. Although it highlights the importance of human relationships and how they help us prosper. The animation of the backgrounds and landscapes is very good, as well as the character development is good. Although the movie slows down a bit before reaching the end.
It is a very enjoyable film, which manages to deliver the positive and the negative of the use of the internet and its dependence on the new generations.
Love the creators, but sadly this was a disappointment
kurtwi22 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I rarely take the time to write reviews, so it has to be either very good or very bad.
I have loved most of what these guys have done in the past. Summer Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time, even though it gets mixed reviews. So I was hoping for another hit, especially considering the ratings...!
Visually? Wow.
Plot? Characters? Disaster. I would rather have watched this movie on silent.
A lot of the cute anime moments unique to this studio--that I have liked before--just made me cringe. Their unique tricks and trends fell hollow. Almost as if they assumed we watched all of their movies back to back, and would feel the impact of the cuteness or shyness without any emotion behind it.
The "death in the family" trope was done amazingly well in Summer Wars. The character was established, and their death was plot relevant and impactful. Here, it felt forced. Just to give the character an emotional background.
Spoilers:
And then, the huge narrative gap between her getting on U and becoming a singer. The HUGER narrative gap between her becoming a singer and her becoming famous with the help of her super genius tech friend who doubles as the comedic relief. I had to pause and rewind to make sure I didn't miss anything somehow, or to make sure my streaming service didn't glitch.
And why in that high tech environment can a character run around doing as they please? Just put a digital wall between him and the singer's stage! He isn't a hacker. In Summer Wars, the AI hacked the code with the help of the global math/dev community, which is how he broke the rules, plus it's an AI. But here we have a random kid doing what he wants, and the only defense are these incredibly hard to watch digital superheroes, and the punishment is simply exposing who he is...?
To be honest, I stopped watching halfway. Maybe some of these questions are answered in the second half, but I can't even finish this. I REALLY wanted to like it. Couldn't wait to watch it. And I think it could have worked, if done slightly differently. But to me, this was a huge failure, especially considering the massive wins that came before.
I have loved most of what these guys have done in the past. Summer Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time, even though it gets mixed reviews. So I was hoping for another hit, especially considering the ratings...!
Visually? Wow.
Plot? Characters? Disaster. I would rather have watched this movie on silent.
A lot of the cute anime moments unique to this studio--that I have liked before--just made me cringe. Their unique tricks and trends fell hollow. Almost as if they assumed we watched all of their movies back to back, and would feel the impact of the cuteness or shyness without any emotion behind it.
The "death in the family" trope was done amazingly well in Summer Wars. The character was established, and their death was plot relevant and impactful. Here, it felt forced. Just to give the character an emotional background.
Spoilers:
And then, the huge narrative gap between her getting on U and becoming a singer. The HUGER narrative gap between her becoming a singer and her becoming famous with the help of her super genius tech friend who doubles as the comedic relief. I had to pause and rewind to make sure I didn't miss anything somehow, or to make sure my streaming service didn't glitch.
And why in that high tech environment can a character run around doing as they please? Just put a digital wall between him and the singer's stage! He isn't a hacker. In Summer Wars, the AI hacked the code with the help of the global math/dev community, which is how he broke the rules, plus it's an AI. But here we have a random kid doing what he wants, and the only defense are these incredibly hard to watch digital superheroes, and the punishment is simply exposing who he is...?
To be honest, I stopped watching halfway. Maybe some of these questions are answered in the second half, but I can't even finish this. I REALLY wanted to like it. Couldn't wait to watch it. And I think it could have worked, if done slightly differently. But to me, this was a huge failure, especially considering the massive wins that came before.
Belle: Swiss Cheese Plot
eleanorhawkesworth30 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
While a visual marvel in CGI scenes and a musical delight, unfortunately Belle is not a short visual demonstration.
This film has many plot holes and unused plot devices and feels very much unfinished.
1. WHY is the beast being chased or regarded as a criminal in the virtual world? The first time we see him he is being chased into the concert, so we can only assume that he had committed a crime before that, or that it is assumed so by the police force. HOWEVER we never figure out why and in the wiki, it says that he is being chased BECAUSE he went into the concert.
2. VIOLENCE. If you are going to show us bruised backs, pictures of a wife that has had its frame punched through, and increase the tension of violence, only to have the father stand there awkwardly while the older brother practically looks like he is humping the younger one (which was extremely uncomfortable to watch) - what was the point? Why does this - fully grown - domestic abuser cry and scream at the sight of a random kid t-posing in front of the children he abuses, why does he fall to the floor, scream and run away as if he just saw his worst nightmare.
3. VR World Building. If by world building you mean outlining a basic idea, we do not see what the point of 'U' is, other than an upgraded version of VR Chat. Do people live here? Can you buy stuff in shops? Is there a monetary system? Why can Belle fly everywhere but in the castle she has to run up every step? Why can Belle run in the real world while also co-piloting her avatar in the VR world at the same time?
4. Childhood Friend Arc. You waste 3/4 of the film building up to this guy being the Beast, heck he even says that he knows that Belle is who she is in VR, you hint at every aspect that he is the beast and then you throw away everything you built up. Why on planet Earth did I get invested in this guy only for him to just be forgettable? Why couldn't he be the one who was abused in secret which would make for a cool juxtaposition as he is the popular kid in school. He felt like such a key important character and yet ended up in the waste bin.
5. Inanimate Characters doing nothing when in real life they'd be doing things as humans do. Why does everyone in the room while Belle is having a meltdown do nothing? They just stand still and stare at her? We get a "Belle" gasped in unison by everyone as though they were forced to say it at gunpoint. Why do they not comfort her? Especially her established mother figures who have essentially brought her up when she was with them, who would understand her pain and struggle - Why do they leave her alone? You cannot tell me that everyone in that room was personally attached to her and yet chose to stand still while she clearly needed emotional support.
6. Important Influences. Belle clearly has deeply ingrained trauma and consequently anxiety from her mothers death. However the film glosses over this trauma in a matter of a few minutes, she gets to become this avatar Belle and becomes a literal pop-star and you are telling me she has magically lost all trauma or that it no longer has such a negative influence on her? It feels like a lot is lost here, a lot that could have been explored within the film, while instead of showing glorified shots of an out of context virtual world, we see more of the shots showing her relationship with her father - that makes us connect more with the protagonist. It was nice showing her progression into singing in real life, but even that was an afterthought when she sang perfectly in VR and all of a sudden the film stops focusing on her real world progress as a character.
7. So what now? Belle finds the kids after taking an abrupt trip to Tokyo alone (how she magically "enhanced" her way into finding exactly where they were, without anyone accompanying her - as a high school student - to a fully grown man who we know domestically abuses his children. Her father just accepts this random trip without any worries after his child has been clearly depressed, thinking about someone (The Beast). What now? The domestic abuser is going nowhere, is she going to take the kids home? What is the moral of the story? I get there might be some cyclical symbolism with her mother also going to save someone alone, but the only reason she went alone was because there was a huge water current which meant certain danger. Unless train tickets have skyrocketed in price like bitcoin, why is she alone and what closure does this even bring? How did they manage to find each other so easily, when Belle had no idea where she was and they didn't even know she was there?
I gave it a 4/10 because I managed to watch it beginning to end ('managed'), and I liked some of the music and visuals (although the 2D animation was basic and industry standard at best).
In terms of plot, it had no plot. It was not coherent. People in this world did not act like people in a fleshed out existence and there was not an end in sight.
I was left confused and do not recommend a full watch to anyone, they should just watch the trailer or short clips online.
This film has many plot holes and unused plot devices and feels very much unfinished.
1. WHY is the beast being chased or regarded as a criminal in the virtual world? The first time we see him he is being chased into the concert, so we can only assume that he had committed a crime before that, or that it is assumed so by the police force. HOWEVER we never figure out why and in the wiki, it says that he is being chased BECAUSE he went into the concert.
2. VIOLENCE. If you are going to show us bruised backs, pictures of a wife that has had its frame punched through, and increase the tension of violence, only to have the father stand there awkwardly while the older brother practically looks like he is humping the younger one (which was extremely uncomfortable to watch) - what was the point? Why does this - fully grown - domestic abuser cry and scream at the sight of a random kid t-posing in front of the children he abuses, why does he fall to the floor, scream and run away as if he just saw his worst nightmare.
3. VR World Building. If by world building you mean outlining a basic idea, we do not see what the point of 'U' is, other than an upgraded version of VR Chat. Do people live here? Can you buy stuff in shops? Is there a monetary system? Why can Belle fly everywhere but in the castle she has to run up every step? Why can Belle run in the real world while also co-piloting her avatar in the VR world at the same time?
4. Childhood Friend Arc. You waste 3/4 of the film building up to this guy being the Beast, heck he even says that he knows that Belle is who she is in VR, you hint at every aspect that he is the beast and then you throw away everything you built up. Why on planet Earth did I get invested in this guy only for him to just be forgettable? Why couldn't he be the one who was abused in secret which would make for a cool juxtaposition as he is the popular kid in school. He felt like such a key important character and yet ended up in the waste bin.
5. Inanimate Characters doing nothing when in real life they'd be doing things as humans do. Why does everyone in the room while Belle is having a meltdown do nothing? They just stand still and stare at her? We get a "Belle" gasped in unison by everyone as though they were forced to say it at gunpoint. Why do they not comfort her? Especially her established mother figures who have essentially brought her up when she was with them, who would understand her pain and struggle - Why do they leave her alone? You cannot tell me that everyone in that room was personally attached to her and yet chose to stand still while she clearly needed emotional support.
6. Important Influences. Belle clearly has deeply ingrained trauma and consequently anxiety from her mothers death. However the film glosses over this trauma in a matter of a few minutes, she gets to become this avatar Belle and becomes a literal pop-star and you are telling me she has magically lost all trauma or that it no longer has such a negative influence on her? It feels like a lot is lost here, a lot that could have been explored within the film, while instead of showing glorified shots of an out of context virtual world, we see more of the shots showing her relationship with her father - that makes us connect more with the protagonist. It was nice showing her progression into singing in real life, but even that was an afterthought when she sang perfectly in VR and all of a sudden the film stops focusing on her real world progress as a character.
7. So what now? Belle finds the kids after taking an abrupt trip to Tokyo alone (how she magically "enhanced" her way into finding exactly where they were, without anyone accompanying her - as a high school student - to a fully grown man who we know domestically abuses his children. Her father just accepts this random trip without any worries after his child has been clearly depressed, thinking about someone (The Beast). What now? The domestic abuser is going nowhere, is she going to take the kids home? What is the moral of the story? I get there might be some cyclical symbolism with her mother also going to save someone alone, but the only reason she went alone was because there was a huge water current which meant certain danger. Unless train tickets have skyrocketed in price like bitcoin, why is she alone and what closure does this even bring? How did they manage to find each other so easily, when Belle had no idea where she was and they didn't even know she was there?
I gave it a 4/10 because I managed to watch it beginning to end ('managed'), and I liked some of the music and visuals (although the 2D animation was basic and industry standard at best).
In terms of plot, it had no plot. It was not coherent. People in this world did not act like people in a fleshed out existence and there was not an end in sight.
I was left confused and do not recommend a full watch to anyone, they should just watch the trailer or short clips online.
great ideas, confusing execution
skyleesue27 June 2023
While there are a lot of things to like about this movie, I found it too convoluted to be engrossed in.
First of all, was it just me or were the visual transitions extremely jarring? The pacing felt very off, feeling too slow and too fast at the same time. The pacing was so awkward that it was almost hard to watch. The plot also seemed confusing and messy but I did like the twist they chose to take on the Beauty and The Beast story.
Another thing I couldn't get into was the main character, Suzu/Belle. Now in this world where your mind matches your looks, I just find it really hard to believe that Suzu is the most beautiful woman. Towards the end I see it more, but all we know about her is that she is anxious and bullied. She seems like a better than average person, but she is flawed, and I don't believe she's the most beautiful woman in the entire internet world.
And I just don't get the virtual world. There's too many questions. First of all, who would choose to join this virtual world? Not only does it seem vast and empty, but also way more people would be ugly. And why does it show so many pretty characters like laughing at her and making fun of her in the end? It seems kind of mean to laugh at her for the reasons they are. It doesn't seem consistent
But the visuals were phenomenal. The animation blew me away. It was worth the watch just for the animation.
First of all, was it just me or were the visual transitions extremely jarring? The pacing felt very off, feeling too slow and too fast at the same time. The pacing was so awkward that it was almost hard to watch. The plot also seemed confusing and messy but I did like the twist they chose to take on the Beauty and The Beast story.
Another thing I couldn't get into was the main character, Suzu/Belle. Now in this world where your mind matches your looks, I just find it really hard to believe that Suzu is the most beautiful woman. Towards the end I see it more, but all we know about her is that she is anxious and bullied. She seems like a better than average person, but she is flawed, and I don't believe she's the most beautiful woman in the entire internet world.
And I just don't get the virtual world. There's too many questions. First of all, who would choose to join this virtual world? Not only does it seem vast and empty, but also way more people would be ugly. And why does it show so many pretty characters like laughing at her and making fun of her in the end? It seems kind of mean to laugh at her for the reasons they are. It doesn't seem consistent
But the visuals were phenomenal. The animation blew me away. It was worth the watch just for the animation.
People who rate badly that movie haven't seen the other related ones.
badendxxx27 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Of course Suzu is going to try saving that boy alone. That's how her mother died. Trying to save a total stranger. Nobody could have stopped her, it's what she learned to do. If you're fixated on such detail and can't stomach it, you're ignoring the whole story and what the scenarist has been developing in his other related stories.
See also
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