marcvalenzuela With an abundance of films made by Studio Ghibli, Mamoru Hosoda really found something to call his own by stepping outside that famed studio and finding focus on a movie that plays on themes of cyber warfare and the value of family.Kenji Koiso is an average high school student with a skill in mathematics and a job with OZ, an online virtual reality world where many users browse and socialize with each other. But when he's given a "job" by his crush Natsuki Jinnouchi to travel to the country with her during the summer, he gets himself in over his head when he's framed online by a rogue AI called Love Machine.For an anime film, I found this to be enjoyable and cleverly crafted. The cyber realm setting does borrow off the elements (albeit even a similar scenario) of one segment from Digimon: The Movie, but Hosoda admitted that Digimon is a prototype to Summer Wars. Now Kenji clearly lacks social skills, but his extensive math knowledge is put to the test as he and the rest of the Jinnouchi clan come together to put an end to this AI. The characters feel relatable and the family values remind me so much of my own that it feels inviting and immersive just by getting to know several of Natsuki's extensive family members.Although the movie may start off slow, there are some moments throughout its two-hour run time that give off an emotional sense when it comes to either angst amongst family or even the intense fight scenes in cyberspace. Hosoda's previous work The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was pretty impressive, so his follow-up Summer Wars is another hit. Whether you're an avid anime fan or simply an average film-goer (and regardless of animation medium), its story is simple, yet complex in balancing the virtual world and reality. As for OZ itself, it's like a hybrid of Miyazaki's art style crossed with Nintendo's designs. Made me want to watch the movie again whenever I choose.

jaygorian The good (As in, why I didn't give it only one star):The art and animation in this movie were excellent The extremely large cast of characters is very well managed, there are very few that fall completely to the sidelines, story or writing wise The plot is easily digestible for those who are younger or newer to the mediumThe bad: The plot was mediocre at best, with the way the MC was brought into the plot utterly unrealistic and stereotypical for anime being one of its many unoriginal aspects, however, I could've set aside my qualms about the plot if not for the digital side of the filmThe ugly (As in, here's where I make an itemized list so it's not too ragey):1. The world of OZ is portrayed as impossibly immersive considering the fact that it uses mouse and keyboard or hand-held controls2. OZ is given an insane amount of access to the world. Considering that even UPS uses an internal network for its in-hub computers, it is unbelievable that computers with control over public works, infrastructure, satellites, and nuclear power plants would be connected to this social network on steroids.3. The "hacking" is so utterly nonsensical that to point out every single issue would take up the rest of this relatively short review 4. Real life martial arts skills do not translate to video game skills 5. A combat control scheme that requires use of the entire keyboard is utter nonsense and would be considered trash by anyone with even a small amount of gaming experience, and therefore should not have been even remotely popular6. The number of different platforms OZ is accessible through is difficult to believe, mostly in terms of the DS. Plausible, but unlikely.7. The supercomputer should not have been able to have OZ installed on it out of the box, installing an OS on the thing should've taken most of the time they had8. There should have been no way for people to "give" the girl their avatars in the end9. In-game proximity should have had nothing to do with whether the hacking AI could steal one's accountThere's more, but just remembering this movie is starting to upset me, so I'll leave it at that.

millecastle I saw this in the recent animated films and I was pleasantly surprised to find something set in cyberspace , said this I can say that the proposed environment although in the past proposed by cartoons like Digimon and others this time is presented to us in the form of social network ( Like Second Life ) who are now tied almost all human activities all from the hospital sector to that of firefighter and management also of the satellites , and in this scenario is emerging that will see the adventure starring a guy between various adventures if you will have to do with a dangerous computer virus that threatens to destroy the city and the virtual community ( engulfing avatar of Avatar ) . Some described the plot can only say that it is undoubtedly a good film that takes sometimes adventures in cyberspace proposed in the past by the aforementioned series and making it a more contemporary and advice if you are looking for a good animated film .

mll23 As someone who watches many movies, this movie had it's archetypes that are often used. The kid who becomes a man, saving the world, the popular girl and the less than outstanding guy.With all this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by the this movie. The characters weren't exceptionally over built, nor artificial, the family dynamic was fun to watch, and the series of twists and turns that occurred as the movie progressed really were inspiring. This movie may have used common plots, but it did in a way that was both inviting, intriguing, and most of all enjoyable. If you have 100 minutes to sit down, and watch a movie of laughs, loss, and self growth, definitely give it a try