Movie Review: Your Name
2016’s Your Name (君の名はKimi no Na Wa) was both a box office smash hit and beloved by critics. I finally got around to watching it recently and my verdict is very hipster: It’s good, sure, but not really that good.
It is the story of two high school kids, a girl named Mitsuha and a boy named Taki, who begin magically switching bodies. Their contrasting lifestyles in the city and countryside combined with wacky gender comedy are enough to keep you smiling for the film’s first thirty minutes. Then we get an interesting turn involving time travel and city-destroying meteors and suddenly there is a whole lot more mystery and melodrama than you likely expected.
The film’s strongest point is its beautiful visuals and heartwarming soundtrack. It’s everything you like about anime — it’s a treat for the eyes, emotionally engaging, and gives you a classy feel-good ending. There’s even a bit of subtle cultural commentary involving Mitsuha’s family and their traditional Japanese ceremony duties conflicting with modern culture. The film is deeper than you expect and even profound in its best moments.
There’s a lot to appreciate. For me though I had a few gripes. For one, a lot of the weird time travel stuff is done in a very hand-wavey way that I found annoying. The movie relies heavily on coincidence, lucky guesses, and “just so” plotting. It is a pet peeve of mine when films go out of their way to set up elaborate fantasy/sci-fi mechanic rules and then don’t take them seriously.
It’s also rather sappy and feels rushed. The setup with the two characters changing bodies would have made for a great TV series. Instead with our brisk 100 minute runtime, we get a few slices of life and a montage and then suddenly pivot to an entirely different movie. Emphasizing the suddenness is the fact that this is precipitated by a second opening music video 30 minutes into the film. While it isn’t exactly a love story, given the dramatic climax and stakes it would have been better if the movie gave Taki and Mitsuha more time to really flesh out their relationship.
All that said, Your Name is still very much worth your time. With its thoughtful exploration of relationships, life’s seasons, memory, and the passing of time, the story pulls at your heartstrings in all the right ways. It is a beautiful and memorable film that viewers less jaded than I will surely love.
Grade: B
