Weathering With You Review

Celebrated Japanese writer/director Makoto Shinkai returns with Weathering With You, the first film following his 2016 commercial and critical success Your Name. Many creators would shutter at attempting to do an almost unrepeatable achievement, but Shinkai doesn’t flinch at all, trying to hit the same success by magnifying the elements that were revered so high in Your Name. Although the film continues Shinkai’s gold-standard of visuals that beautifully exhibit a level of detail and finesse that oozes character and atmosphere, the film ultimately gets stuck in first gear with a narrative that is unable to create a solid feeling of tension or conflict. While the stunning digital rendering and the whimsical foundation to the story create enough to stay entertaining and rewarding for potential re-watches, the memorability of Weathering With You ultimately crumbles due to its lack of narrative consistency and intrigue.

Weathering With You follows high school freshman Hodoka during the summer that he decides to run away to Tokyo. Once there, he quickly realizes that adapting to city life will test all his mental and financial fortitude. As it rains in the city every day, Hodoka’s luck seems as miserable as the weather until he meets the radiant Hina. The two befriend one another, and it’s not long before Hina unveils her strange secret - that she has the power to clear the sky of any rain. Branded as a “sunshine girl”, Hina, Hodoka and Hina’s brother Nagi group together to use the special ability to make some easy money but doing so begins to reveal a harsh ultimatum that Hina must make.

The phenomenal animation and dazzling photorealistic scenery will be no surprise to anyone familiar with Shinkai’s work, as Weathering With You succeeds most when it lingers, allowing audiences to bathe in the attentive detail of its visual elements. The result creates stunning portraits of a Tokyo that feel genuine and real, with frames that are brimming with enough life and creativity that one would have to pause each new scene to absorb every component and characteristic embedded within them.

Unfortunately, Weathering With You always feels like its style over substance. Despite some emotionally driven moments, the film ultimately lacks the expressive complexity to achieve the powerful or touching moments that it decides to pursue. While it offers enough elements that achieve an enjoyable level of humor and heart, the narrative eventually works its way to an ending that doesn’t feel as justifiable as it should.

Overall, Weathering With You isn’t a miss for Makoto Shinkai, but those hoping for a film that would match the same highs as his previous effort will be welcomed with something that feels far more linear and trapped in cliché. While the film is a constant joy to visually digest, its story fails to entertain to the same degree.

Mesmeric in detail yet narratively bare, Weathering With You is ultimately an entertaining yet inconsistently interesting effort from Makoto Shinkai.

Produced By: 20th Century Fox
Runtime: 152 minutes
Rating: NR