"Paprika" attempts to lure you into the world of dreams with its vivid imagery and trippy sequences. While it certainly is a bit of eye-candy to behold, the reach of this film far exceeds its grasp.
I desperately wanted to like this film. I thought it was going to blow my mind when I started watching it. The art combined with the subject matter should have by all means resulted in something amazing, yet it falls flat on its face. The film could have truly been visionary had it narrowed its focus, but the themes and attempts at philosophy they try to present are scattered at best.
A little cohesion could have gone a long way. I'm aware it's a movie about dreams, but that does not mean the writers can throw things together randomly and expect it to work. Stories are meant to be followed by an audience, and thus still have limits, regardless of how absurd the topic is. Even getting rid of a plot entirely would have been an improvement, but the fact that it tries to tell a story while only being half-aware of its audience left me with a feeling of utter disappointment.
The film is on the whole pretentious and superficial. On the surface it pretends to be rich and meaningful but it is ultimately shallow and of no consequence. I'm sure it will appeal to the anime subculture which absolutely eats up anything Japanese. The style and incoherence of this film will give them the added bonus of feeling like they "got" something deep, when in reality the movie is devoid of substance.
"Paprika" might be worth seeing for the visuals alone if you haven't seen anything similar before, but only because it comes in at a short 90 minutes. However, if you're a newcomer to anime, please ignore this film. Anime is so blindly eaten up by fans that putting more than a little effort into the story is almost a waste of time. Tripe like this masquerades as being some of the best the genre has to offer, causing many to ignore some truly great films.
It's unfortunate such a talented animation studio (Madhouse Studios) is wasting their time on material like this. They're a Japanese studio but paired with a writer on the level of Charlie Kaufman or someone of similar creativity and story-telling skill, they could accomplish something truly revolutionary.
A note to the aforementioned anime fans: Do your genre a favor and stop drooling over movies like this so blindly. You can at least pretend to give a damn about substance and watch half-decent films, like "Grave of the Fireflies" or even "Spirited Away". This genre will forever remain on the fringes until newcomers can reliably separate the great from the simply pretentious. For the genre's sake and that of your own critical development: Be a little more picky with your films! And the best part is, you get to keep the same smug sense of self-satisfaction. It's win-win.
I desperately wanted to like this film. I thought it was going to blow my mind when I started watching it. The art combined with the subject matter should have by all means resulted in something amazing, yet it falls flat on its face. The film could have truly been visionary had it narrowed its focus, but the themes and attempts at philosophy they try to present are scattered at best.
A little cohesion could have gone a long way. I'm aware it's a movie about dreams, but that does not mean the writers can throw things together randomly and expect it to work. Stories are meant to be followed by an audience, and thus still have limits, regardless of how absurd the topic is. Even getting rid of a plot entirely would have been an improvement, but the fact that it tries to tell a story while only being half-aware of its audience left me with a feeling of utter disappointment.
The film is on the whole pretentious and superficial. On the surface it pretends to be rich and meaningful but it is ultimately shallow and of no consequence. I'm sure it will appeal to the anime subculture which absolutely eats up anything Japanese. The style and incoherence of this film will give them the added bonus of feeling like they "got" something deep, when in reality the movie is devoid of substance.
"Paprika" might be worth seeing for the visuals alone if you haven't seen anything similar before, but only because it comes in at a short 90 minutes. However, if you're a newcomer to anime, please ignore this film. Anime is so blindly eaten up by fans that putting more than a little effort into the story is almost a waste of time. Tripe like this masquerades as being some of the best the genre has to offer, causing many to ignore some truly great films.
It's unfortunate such a talented animation studio (Madhouse Studios) is wasting their time on material like this. They're a Japanese studio but paired with a writer on the level of Charlie Kaufman or someone of similar creativity and story-telling skill, they could accomplish something truly revolutionary.
A note to the aforementioned anime fans: Do your genre a favor and stop drooling over movies like this so blindly. You can at least pretend to give a damn about substance and watch half-decent films, like "Grave of the Fireflies" or even "Spirited Away". This genre will forever remain on the fringes until newcomers can reliably separate the great from the simply pretentious. For the genre's sake and that of your own critical development: Be a little more picky with your films! And the best part is, you get to keep the same smug sense of self-satisfaction. It's win-win.