"Summer Wars"

*****

I honestly don't know if Anime has changed, or if I have. I once would have told you I did not like it; that I found it visually simplistic with jarring color flashes and god-awful voice work. But here, now, we have the fifth Anime movie in a row to which I've given 5 stars. (Following Grave of the Fireflies, Tales from Earthsea, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo. All fantastic movies and well worth a look.)

This is a sci-fi/romance/comedy/family drama/action movie. Yeah. And it pulls off all these elements wonderfully. Set in what I imagine is a not-too-distant future (the film never specifies), Summer Wars imagines a world where much of the technologically advanced world has joined an uber-social network called Oz. The movie opens with a sort of commercial for Oz, familiarizing us with this virtual space, that is nothing like Facebook. There they can play games, access endless resources, buy things (for the real or virtual world), or even work. In fact most people have linked Oz directly to their jobs, so they can just work from home. People have customized avatars in this virtual space, and their avatars have digital access to everything they choose. Hence some avatars would have government access, some access to power and water facilities, some access to satellites in space. They do it all in Oz.

Young math genius Kenji actually works for Oz, writing code. He also has a crush on the pretty Natuski. And when Natuski asks him to come to her hometown for the summer to do a job for her, he agrees immediately. We meet Natuski's family, an enormous group of interesting folks, many of them cops or firefighters, lead by a matriarch nearing her 90th birthday. She's one of the best characters: a very strong old woman with a long lifetime of wisdom and resources, a quick wit, and a quicker temper. Just after arriving, Kenji gets a message from Oz, with a long number sequence and the words "solve me." Kenji, who as all math geniuses seem to be is slightly obsessive, solves the problem after a few frantic hours work. He has no idea that he's just unleashed what is essentially an artificially intelligent virus unto Oz. Overnight, havoc is wreaked on public works systems, financial systems, lighting grids, everything; because everything is wired in. Then the virus (hilariously called "Love Machine" by its inventor) begins consuming other avatars. And gaining their access. It should come as no surprise that it's going to come down to Kenji, Natuski, and the entire family to save not just the virtual world, but the real world as well.

At times this movie is visually stunning. Do not be put off by the cutesy image on the poster up there. There are some cutesy elements, yes, but as a whole I think this:

is far more representative of the look and feel of the movie. The virtual space is visualized brilliantly through one of the best blends of hand drawn and computer animation I've seen. And a moment comes towards the end that echos Chernabog during his "Night on Bald Mountain" in the seminal Fantasia. This gave me chills. But beyond the visual, the movie is often hilarious, occasionally thrilling, very smart, and more than a little touching. It's got heart to spare, and it's dead on in it's representation of a large but close knit family. And of course it is somewhat unsettling. How far are we from Oz, or something very like it? Not far I'd say. Not far at all.