A Spoiler-Free Patema Inverted Review
As a massive fan of Japanese anime films, with Weathering With You and A Silent Voice both instantly placing in my top five favorite movies upon watching them, the whole premise of Patema Inverted felt right up my alley. So, did this film impress or depress? That's what I will be tackling in today's review.
The film's premise is so genius that it'd be challenging not to deliver at least a mildly intriguing film. It follows a young girl named Patema who resides in the deep underground civilization on a post-apocalyptic Earth but wants to explore the surface world, and, in going there, she is inverted and has to receive help from a boy named Eiji to return home. While I typically write spoiler-heavy reviews, I want to keep this one entirely spoiler-free, just in case, as it is quite the wild ride, and I don't want to ruin this out-there film for anybody accidentally. In doing a non-spoiler review, I will cover the strengths and weaknesses as usual, but I will do it on a very broad scale.
I'll start with the weaknesses so I can end on a higher, more positive note. The first minor gripe I have with this film is that, in flashback scenes, the animation is slowed down and blurry. While that may have been effective for some, it got on my nerves pretty quickly. Another issue stems from the plot revolving around gravity. This film typically goes for a realistic take on gravity, making the bizarre plot feel more personal and grounded. However, some moments throw out all the rules of the world and the laws of gravity, which took me out of the film a ton. Another odd bit is that the main leads are oddly stuck between feeling platonic and romantic, which is not a good thing in this case. While that awkward phase is a significant narrative element in any good rom-com, that phase needs to be resolved in one way or another to make it narratively satisfying, and that wasn't the case in Patema Inverted.
Another underdeveloped aspect was the dystopian landscape of the city, Aiga. Exploring more about the lore of that city is something that would've significantly strengthened the film. While I also wouldn't mind more lore about the underground, I think we got just enough there for it to be adequate for me. While most of those details are mostly just little annoyances of mine, this film does possess one colossal issue: its explanation execution. Many times in this film, remarkable things happen, but they are presented in a way that at least one plot reveal will get lost on the viewer on a first watch. While watching the film a few times, reading professional summaries online, or overanalyzing the film will eventually lead you to understand it, I feel like a slightly less subdued story would greatly benefit this film. While I adore nuanced films that make you really ponder what you just witnessed, adding that style with a really out-there premise was a little overkill. I firmly believe in show-don't-tell, but this film struggles to show what it's attempting to show at times. Some films like Christopher Nolan's Inception are able to pull off confusing yet satisfying narratives, but, unfortunately, some of the reveals in this film were outstanding on paper but severely lacking in the execution department.
Now, let's move to the good! The story itself may not be the best executed, but if it had more time in the oven, it truly would be something unforgettable. Nevertheless, it's still solidly intriguing as-is. The animation here was stunning and scintillating, and the inverted shots were nothing short of magical. While this movie didn't make me tear up, it tackled both light and heavy moments quite well, with the humor being absolutely on point and the characters all really lovable. While I like the movie and all, I'd surprisingly have to say the soundtrack was my favorite part of this film, and it is definitely one of my top five movie soundtracks now. The music truly resembled the soundtrack of Lost Odyssey by legendary VGM composer Nobuo Uematsu, and judging that's my favorite soundtrack of all time, you better believe Patema Inverted's score blew me away.
The Reel Ranker Verdict
Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 75%
Letter Rating: B+
Star Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Ultimately, I wish Patema Inverted was one of my favorite films. Frankly, it had all the ingredients in place to be something truly extraordinary. However, its confusing, convoluted execution frequently took me out of an otherwise remarkable film. While I'd still recommend this film to anyone, as I still thoroughly enjoyed it, there was a plethora of potential here that didn't come together as well as it needed to. While it had the potential to be a top-tier anime film, it was only good, not great. It's a true tragedy here, that's for sure.
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