Weathering With You — An Animated Film For Everyone (SPOILERS)
Makoto Shinkai’s follow-up to Your Name. is a less complex effort, but one that packs an incredible emotional punch, higher than any animated film that came out in 2019. Weathering With You tells the moving story of Hodaka Morishima (Kotaro Daigo) who moves to Tokyo after running away from his family. In Tokyo, he meets Hina Amano (Nana Mori) who has magical powers. She can pray for the sun to shine in rainy Tokyo and it happens. They soon start the “100% sunshine girl” business, but it takes a toll on Hina’s life and Hodaka’s psychological affection to Hina.
The story is rather simple and formulaic — a clichéd love story that ends, of course, incredibly well. The only flaw that Shinkai’s film has is that it takes no “story” risks whatsoever, except for a decision that will alter the course of the ENTIRE planet. The story is told exactly the way a pedantic, mainstream, animated film would, with a few twists here and there. The biggest risk the film takes is its final nail on the head — that he would choose Hina over good, steady, climate, which causes Tokyo to rain non-stop and be almost flooded 3 years later, which is a direct hit at what scientists [could] be predicting as cataclysmic natural events and climate change. It’s a ballsy script risk, and one that I can’t help but have huge respect for, because we finally have an animation director saying “no” to the traditional conformist method of doing animated films and turning a formulaic story on its head by making script choices that many mainstream studios would refuse.
The characters of Hodaka and Hina evolve on the screen like real-life characters, and their relationship blossom brilliantly. The film takes a really mature approach at how Hodaka and Hina meet, as she is forced into prostitution. It’s the kind of things you don’t see in mainstream animated films, and Shinkai doesn’t care about what your initial expectations are. Every interaction between Hodaka and Hina allow them to be better individuals, and we see them purely evolve on-screen. When the climax hits, your eyes bubble up and marvel at the characters’ natural progression. The movie is a slow-burn, but it pays off in so many ways that all you can do is bow down at the talent that went into making the movie. The animation is superbly detailed, like in every Shinkai film, and is GORGEOUS to look at in IMAX, with the expanded aspect ratio of 1.90:1 being utilized in the entire film. When I saw Hodaka eating a Big Mac, and you actually imagine it being a real Big Mac as opposed to animation, that’s how detailed it is. Every frame oozes from creativity, especially during the big kinetic scenes of its climax. As always, Shinkai packs a true punch in the gut in the film’s 3rd act, but it takes a while to get going.
The biggest issue with Weathering with You is its slow-plotting, but every decision made in the first two acts of the film sets-up its brilliant, and emotionally impactful playoff. The story is recycled, yes, but the way Shinkai plays around with it, emotionally and thematically, is one for the ages. I complain most of the time that many of the mainstream animated films take zero risks whatsoever and present a formulaic story with a “paint-by-numbers” structure and clichéd characters. Yes, it’s formulaic. Yes, it’s predictable. BUT it doesn’t matter, because this movie is DAMN good. Give it a chance, and you’ll see why.
✯✯✯✯
