The story revolves around a group of scientist that have invented a machine called the DC-Mini. The DC-Mini allows someone to go inside another person's dream. In theory the machine can be used to treat any number of psychological, or psychiatric ailments. The main character is Dr.Chiba; the head of the team that created the DC-Mini. She has assumed the alter ego of Paprika, and has been illegally using the DC-Mini to treat patients outside of work.Unfortunately for Dr.Chiba, a prototype of the DC-Mini has been stolen by a rogue member of the science team. They must get it back before the program is canceled, or before things start going horribly wrong.
The main theme of the movie is dreams, both in a literal and figurative way. In the literal sense the movie manages to capture the oddity, and randomness of dreams. They have a certain whimsical quality; like a rhyme without a reason. Kind of like Disney's Alice in Wonderland, only turned up to 11. In a figurative sense, the topic of how dreams relate to people is explored via the main characters. For example, a career driven woman who creates an alter-ego in order to live out her fantasies, a geek too blinded by his dreams to act responsibly, a man that lives with regrets because he turned he's back on his dreams,etc.
Paprika is a really beautiful anime. Granted, a lot of people don't like anime as a style, but if you don't have any prejudice against anime then you will absolutely love the visuals of this movie. The dreams are lively and colorful, characters are well designed, but where this movie really shines is the cinematography. The animation has a crazy level of detail, and the action, despite being extremely complex, is really fluent. You will want to watch this movie multiple times just so you can catch things that you missed upon first viewing.
The sound track is also note worthy. It's done by Susumu Hirasawa, a legend of Japanese techno-pop and electronica. Paprika's main theme is just awesome. I can't understand a single word of it, but I totally got lost in it. The song sounds oddly familiar, and yet unlike anything I've heard before.
Sadly, Paprika is not perfect. It does a few faults that bring a near masterpiece down a level. The main problem is the technobabel. A lot of people have said that Paprika has a difficult plot, but that's not really the case. I managed to summaries the basic plot in a single paragraph. No, the main problem is that the movie has way too many scientific terms that it likes to throw at the audience, in rapid succession, without giving the audience any time to take the general idea in. It is way too easy to loose track of the plot just because you are still trying to wrap your head around the mind-something-whatever that the characters were talking about a minute ago. Personally, I'm a sci-fi geek with years of technobabel immunity to protect me, but the average person probably isn't.
A smaller problem that may turn off the audience is the fact that this movie is, for better or for worse, a pure dose of anime. This goes beyond art style. Anime as a storytelling medium is full of strange qualities that may not appeal to the average movie goer. Stuff like adult subject matter in a cartoon, a complex plot, characters that aren't cookie cutter "good guys" and "bad guys". Just keep in mind; Grandma may not enjoy a cartoon with a nude lady in it, and a teen whose into Twilight may not appreciate the subtleties of Paprika.
The sound track is also note worthy. It's done by Susumu Hirasawa, a legend of Japanese techno-pop and electronica. Paprika's main theme is just awesome. I can't understand a single word of it, but I totally got lost in it. The song sounds oddly familiar, and yet unlike anything I've heard before.
Sadly, Paprika is not perfect. It does a few faults that bring a near masterpiece down a level. The main problem is the technobabel. A lot of people have said that Paprika has a difficult plot, but that's not really the case. I managed to summaries the basic plot in a single paragraph. No, the main problem is that the movie has way too many scientific terms that it likes to throw at the audience, in rapid succession, without giving the audience any time to take the general idea in. It is way too easy to loose track of the plot just because you are still trying to wrap your head around the mind-something-whatever that the characters were talking about a minute ago. Personally, I'm a sci-fi geek with years of technobabel immunity to protect me, but the average person probably isn't.
A smaller problem that may turn off the audience is the fact that this movie is, for better or for worse, a pure dose of anime. This goes beyond art style. Anime as a storytelling medium is full of strange qualities that may not appeal to the average movie goer. Stuff like adult subject matter in a cartoon, a complex plot, characters that aren't cookie cutter "good guys" and "bad guys". Just keep in mind; Grandma may not enjoy a cartoon with a nude lady in it, and a teen whose into Twilight may not appreciate the subtleties of Paprika.
Overall, I loved Paprika. It has everything that I could ask for in a sci-fi movie, and the visuals are amazing. It may not have universal appeal, but it really is a work of art. My final rating is a 4 out of 5.
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