Einar

Falls into the unfortunate “waits to see what happens instead of running away from danger” trope, but that’s about the only gripe I have with it. Wonderful set design (reminded me of The Substance), the music was great and the acting good. It felt largely like a game, trying to find the anomalies with the characters, and the beginning set the tone really well, as well as being a fun call back to the fact it’s based on a video game. The story itself is spectacular (but simple, though that isn’t to its detriment) too, and the fact it takes place in Japan makes a lot of sense.

Predictable and boring. It’s beautifully animated, sure, but holy lord was this movie watered down. Repetitive too. How often can you make a character go on a journey, get stuck on another planet and escape in the same film… For a second there I really thought it was going to be a pretty okay film when Bowser fell into the lava… “finally a movie that isn’t afraid to show that some characters aren’t redeemable! Can’t wait to see what Bowser Jr does to make this climax interesting!” and then suddenly he rose back like Jesus did, only worse, and voiced by Jack Black.

Sadly this is a relatable depiction of girlhood, sexuality and friendship. The director intrigues me and so does Adèle Haenel, who might be one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. This makes me want to watch more lesbian movies. Will likely be rewatching soon.

This film does extremely well with its short runtime. There wasn’t a moment of the movie that I didn’t like, even if some of it went over my head - likely since it’s only my first watch and this seems to be a movie worthy of many future rewatches.