Weathering With You
by Dennis Fitzsimmons


The Eternal Optimist, the Pessimist, and the “Sunshine Girl”.
The film takes some twists and turns from there, and I can assure you it isn’t just a movie about young business partners. But I won’t spoil the rest. Instead, I should go over my few criticisms. I wish that the movie would explain the giant rainstorm. It stands out compared to the well-established nature of the rest of the movie. Throughout the film I was distracted by wondering, was it a typhoon? Was it several typhoons? Was it global warming? Did Hina just need a hug, because if she was just depressed and needed a hug than all Nodaka had to do was give her a cuddle. A second minor complaint was how some scenes made you scratch your head. It’s one thing when you have a girl who can literally make sunlight appear. It’s quite another when a girl enters a shrine gate and flies to heaven. Or flies to the clouds. It’s not explained well. Finally, we get to the biggest issue, the ending. It runs too long. To use a different example, it’s like if Spirited Away had its ending where Chihiro escaped from the spirit world, and then three years go by, and she’s in high school, and sees Haku as a high school student, and professes her love to him. Doesn’t exactly work, does it? Same issue here. The ending is laid out to be bittersweet and would have worked perfectly with an interesting end narration. “Even though I returned to Tokyo, I never saw Hina again. However, I will never forget those days three years ago, where she found her purpose, and I found the ability to love.” Simple, poetic, bittersweet, and befitting of a great ending. Instead we get the unconvincing “I met her again in the final scene” cop-out.
Write your own joke here, because honestly, I don’t have one.
Despite those issues, this is a great film. Visually, it’s breathtaking. The photorealistic style transports us to Tokyo almost immediately, even if I question if some of the brand representation is product placement, or just overkill. Mentioning McDonald’s earlier wasn’t a joke. I expected to be criticizing Shinkai’s use of lens flare, however, it is used correctly and isn’t distracting (looking at you, J. J. Abrams!) Story-wise, it’s laid out well, ending notwithstanding, and his use of montages throughout the film was brilliant and humorous. And humor is common through the film, and it might be its greatest unsung quality. I’m particularly reminded of such cute moments, such as the eight-year-old with two girlfriends, in addition to Keisuke’s assistant Natsumi, his niece, her struggle to find a job and a third act action setpiece where she resembles a more sane version of Haruko Harahara from FLCL. Finally, the film’s use of tension is top-notch. The action sequences are thrilling, because by the time they happen in the third act there are actual stakes, and we’re not watching OP characters punch each other without a plausible reason for the audience to care. Promare, looking at you here. RADWIMPS also deserves note, their score combined symphonic with electronic manipulation, which created a surreal feeling that fits in with the rest of the film. Weathering with You is worth the hype, for the most part. If even a stone-cold cynic like myself was a bit emotional during the film, it’s worth a recommendation. Mr. Shinkai, you made a great movie. The ending needs work, but that has been a problem for most stories. Work on those, and you’ll get five-star films every time. Still, 4.75/5 is nothing to sneeze at.Pro:
- Balances enough emotions, without feeling schizophrenic.
- Strong characterization and writing keep the story on the ground.
- Shinkai’s use of cinematic language is top-notch.
Con:
- The ending goes on longer than it should have.
- There’s a bit too much product placement for my liking,
- Some of the bizarre occurrences aren’t explained well.
