Weathering With You, movie review

Rating: C+

Hodaka is a boy on the run, escaping life on a small island for the large city of Tokyo, and since he's a minor there's only so many places he can hide without attracting notice from the police.  It also doesn't help that he finds a gun right outside a club.  Meanwhile Hina is a girl with her own set of troubles, and it is while her Mom is in the hospital that she runs outside, following a ray of light, and stops the rain.  It's been raining in Tokyo.  Nonstop.  All everyone wants is a little sunshine.  Hina discovers she's the sunshine girl, able to bring light to a drenched world.

Weathering With You is the latest movie by writer and director Makoto Shinkai.  He became well known a few years ago with Your Name, though other beautiful works of his precede this anime.  Shinkai has a unique style.  He's able to captor nature elements in such an elegant way that no other animation holds a candle.  His ability to animate and stylize water alone is iconic and extraordinary.  It's one of his artistic signatures.

Shinkai's latest movie is a visual work of art.  Seeing different sides and landmarks of Tokyo was a joy, giving me heart-pangs for another visit.  Someday.  And it's so nice seeing two-dimensional hand drawn animation thriving, though Weathering With You has 3D animation here and there, but there's a life and emotion that can be better shown with drawing verses computers.  Just think of the two versions of Lion King.  Realism is nice, but there's so much more heart in a 2D character plane.  In Weathering With You nature becomes its own character.

Where Weathering With You lacks, and where Your Name was capital, is with the story itself.  The pacing is slow at times.  The plot loose.  It's good when movies breathe, but there was a little too much breath.  Though there are aspects of this movie I did like, and some of the messaging interesting, ultimately I found it rather sad.  There's a spot towards the end where I think it's supposed to be tragic, but members of the audience laughed, and I said with an undertone, "Are you kidding me?"  And then I felt removed, questioning characters, questioning mythos, and wondering what ever happened, long term, to the other maidens.

Weathering With You is a nice movie, and it is worth a watch for anime fans.  Would I recommend this for everyone?  Maybe.  All forms of animation needs to be supported, especially the dying art of hand-drawn.  But if I was to recommend Your Name or Weathering With You, I'd recommend Your Name.

Rated PG-13 for suggestive material, some violence and language.