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Summer Wars

Quick summary: A film about a young boy meets a large family of one of his female classmates and their struggle against a computer A.I. that hacks into an online social networking world and threatens the existence of mankind. Not only do they have to stop this powerful A.I., they have their own family problems to deal with as well.

>Story: 7
>Enjoyment: 9
Honestly, I was quite disappointed when I first saw this film. The plot of an Artificial Intelligent being hacking the online world of OZ which also affects the real world had been done before. If you're a fan of the Digimon series you've ... probably seen the second film from that series, "Digimon: Our War Game". It has the same plot only, instead of an A.I., it's a digital monster that messes with reality from the internet. Not only are the plots somewhat similar, turns out the director is one and the same! It kind of annoyed me that the director recycled one of his previous films and made a new version.

But this was just my first impression. I still thought the film was quite good. I'm a fan of Director Hosoda's work so I ended up buying the film because I hadn't seen it in a while. It blows me away every time I watch it. Although the plot has been used once already, it's applied in a new way so I had to make myself just forget about the Digimon version and just watch Summer Wars like I hadn't seen anything like it before. I had to ' live in the moment' so-to-speak... whatever. Anyway, having that mindset I could then really enjoy the film.

The story also revolves a lot on family and how they stick together to overcome the problems they face. It may be over-dramatized or exaggerated a bit but it all works out for the best.

>Art: 7
More like 7.5 average. The character animation I would rate between 6/7 it's very simple, but it works IMO, and that's part of Director Hosoda's style similar to his other films. The backgrounds and such I would rate between 8/9 it's a lot more detailed and looks beautiful. I think the contrast of detailed backgrounds and simple characters and animation make the film stand out more. The style is very noticeable.

>Sound: 9
Music was great. Very action..y. The music switches from computer/electronic sounds, when focusing on the OZ online world, to piano/instruments when focusing on the real world and the family. It really sets the mood especially for those certain moments.

>Character: 10
I think the characters were portrayed very well. Each had a distinct personality that made you like them or hate them, laugh or be annoyed, etc. The development was very nicely done. I really enjoyed the family aspect of the movie. This movie may have been made with Japanese people in mind, but all of us who happen to have large families like this one have experienced a gathering like this - minus the battle against artificial intelligence. Like they say and show throughout the film, family, communication, and helping others when they're in need are all important.

>Overall: 9
Like I said earlier in my review, this film blows me away every time I watch it. It's a great family movie with intense action and dramatic moments. I highly recommend watching it!