Wonder (Movie)

I opened an account to write this review, and to be honest I find it laughable that people who consider themselves visual or unable to properly decipher abstract art feel the need to write on what they do not know. I think a persons inability to stay entertained during Wonder is directly related to the overstimulation that most anime provides. Obviously ignoring that this is not like other anime, the main indication is that it is done completely by hand, no CGI or cutting edge tech production to engage your overly stimulated brain.

The only think that can be seen in its merits, which lie ... in the attention to detail. Drawn by hand every aspect of the short film is patiently actualized in a lucid manor. Over time a story forms, its nothing with a plot but a story of pictures that have the potential to convey multiple topics, whichever your mind finds.

The forms themselves aren't particularly original I'll admit however, it is the gestures and movements that make it so incredible for me. I've seen this film a few times now, forgetting then rediscovering it, each time I walk away with something new, be it new details I didn't realize or a new feeling if attached to the story. And in my option... that is no small feat for any media.

Highly underrated as it may be, do I think it is a masterpiece? No. But really, what do you have to lose?

Writing a review for an abstract art film is an interesting task. Any "meaning" I could write about would really only be my interpretation, and to be honest I'm not really one of those guys who spends hours of time poring over and interpreting the abstract. If you are that kind of person then feel free to give it a shot, there's certainly a lot of possible meanings one could take from this.

It's a lot harder to recommend to someone if you're not that kind of person. Not so much because it's bad, but rather because it just kind of is. The animation is ... certainly smooth and the art style is pleasant, but it's not something your average person would be willing to write home about.

The music is in a rather similar boat. It's a nice inoffensive companion to the animation, but overall isn't actually anything special. I certainly couldn't see myself listening to it on its own, as it just doesn't really have enough substance to hold itself up.

Overall what I'd say is this: It's worth giving a shot if you've got nothing better to do and ten minutes to kill, but don't feel the need to go especially out of your way to see it.

(4/10 is a good score for me, see my profile)

Wonder isn't particularly visually mind bending, in fact I imagine anyone watching this has seen similar blobby animated doodles in the past, either as little animated gifs or as more properly realised flash animations on Newgrounds or someplace like that. It isn't boring, but since I am such a visually minded person when it comes to film criticism I was naturally drawn to the mechanical process of the movement, and in that respect the film doesn't blow me away. It's merely quite pretty.

What distinguishes this one is that it's hand drawn and that it was made ... over the course of a year, with 24 frames being drawn in one day as a strict timetable. That it was hand drawn does not interest me in the slightest, but the strict structuring of development is actually quite interesting to me as it brings out the devices of improvisation and the process of shifting interests.

Essentially the film is a fascinating visual diagram of animator Mizue's trains of thought, in that his imagination is captured for a few days or a week maybe on one specific idea before moving on to another. One idea is a series of colourful amorphous blobs drifting without purpose until they are dissected by a rigid spike running around in a circle, but then a second later it all dissolves and a new idea emerges. Perhaps not all the ideas are visually captivating, but some of them are and anyway the cycle of their inception and then retirement is more than enough to make this short worth watching regardless.

The ending segment makes me want to see Mizue tackle paint-on-film animation, as it reminded me of The Dante Quartet by Stan Brakhage.