Paprika - DVD/Blu-ray Double Play

I'll give you my over all impression first because that's the crux of everything else I'm going to say: it feels as if they wanted to make this excellent, surreal series of animated dream sequences and just needed any old story to link it all together. It starts out slowly and a little misleadingly, but really gathers momentum and gets better and better as it goes along, faltering slightly in terms of pacing and direction at certain points in the latter half.The main plot, the only bit of the various narratives that the blurb touches, is remarkably basic and entirely unimpressive - and I don't think for a moment that anyone involved in making it would think otherwise. You see, what the blurb doesn't mention is that the REAL plot is actually each character's core psychological problem; the thing that stops them being the person they could be. Each of the characters have their own narrative about coming to terms with who they are (sounds cheesy, it's anything but in this movie) which they do by figuring out that one moment, or that one issue, that sort of derailed their smooth progress through life. Essentially, they get psychotherapy by living and reliving their dreams.Now that's what gives the film an emotional grounding and humanity, but despite the characters being handled as real people, rather than just devices for telling a story, I still can't shake the feeling that it's all just an excuse for some amazing - often stunning - dream sequences. I guess it's like a more artistic version of an action film, where every bit of plot exposition and dialogue is just a set-up for a shoot-out or an explosion. In short, no matter how believable (most of) the characters are, it all feels rather flat and somewhat on auto-pilot when it's not in a dream sequence. This is about 80% of the reason why this didn't get a 5/5 from me.The other reasons are that, like so many anime movies, it gets rather lost as it goes on and seems to lose its way and its pacing. It gets tied up in trying to deliver plot twists and in trying to be more complex than it need be. I'm not saying that it gets confusing, though some may find it does, but rather that as it goes on it sort of buckles under the weight of everything it's trying to say and do, and the drama, pacing and over all flow of the film suffer as a consequence. Then there's that while some of the characters are very well-developed and feel very human indeed, some others are criminally flat and clichéd. This would be OK if they were side-characters, but I'm referring to the bad guys of the piece.The reason you should watch this is because it's an often breathtaking display of imagination and animation, with some really believable characters with very human problems, all backed up by some incredibly original and fitting music. The whole "recover the dream devices" plot really takes a back seat to all those things.Some general notes: It contains elements of sci-fi, mystery, romance, action and fantasy. It appears to have received its 15 classification because there are a couple of breast shots and a scene in which a woman is held at the mercy of a man who wants to show his professed love to her by feeling her up and being a bit manic.

If you're considering this film, I'd strongly advise you to think again. To compare it to Inception is an insult. Yes it's about a dream state, but there the comparison ends. There's one scene in the film which is disturbing and in my opinion shouldn't be viewed by anyone under 14. One of the final scenes shows two men looking at each other in frank disbelief and bewilderment - which sums up my view perfectly! Do yourself a favour and don't bother - quite frankly, in my opinion, it's one of the worst films I've ever seen!

I got this film because it was a highly rated anime and because I'd seen Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue and really enjoyed it, seeing as this was about the dreams and altering reality I decided to give it a try.Firstly the animation was amazing, apparently they used some cgi in there- I couldn't even tell! The whole dream sequence is so extravagant all the movement and the colours it was brilliant.The music was something else as well, i had to get the soundtrack most of it is outstanding, it really works with the film and was apparently the first film soundtrack to use a vocaloid- a program/machine that mimics the human voice.As someone who immensely enjoyed Inception, I heard this was one of Christopher Nolan's inspirations for Inception I had to see it. The plot is really good, it keeps you guessing for most of the film and ends up with a huge fight in dreams/reality. The detective subplot was really inventive too, and I felt quite sorry for him when he was waiting for Paprika etc.Paprika is one of those films you can watch again and again and it all comes together even better, though it ends like Inception where you aren't overly sure what's been reality and a dream or if they're still in the dream.My only criticism is that the subtitles only match up with the Japanese, so watching in English with the subtitles - a little thing I do with every film- is annoying.Overall this film is great, and could fit in the same category as The Matrix - I just can't wait to read the book which was written in the 90's. It's a shame it took so long to make this film, and with a live action film being made soon this fantastic piece of cinema will reach more even people. 5*

Put simply Paprika is one of the strangest films I have ever seen and is a work of pure genius at the same time. In the film a device that allows someone to enter another's dream has been stolen and the devices designers try to track it down before it falls into the hands of a dream terrorist. This is what it says on in the blurb on the back of the DVD and although this is a good description the basic plot there is far more to it than this rather basic description. Paprika is a very difficult film to classify and it is definitely a film you will need to watch multiple times to understand it.Paprika is brilliantly made with some stunning and surreal animation easily showing how, when used properly, animation can be as good as if not better than anything live action can produce. The films plot can be very confusing but despite this, it never ceases to be anything less than engrossing. Whether you watch this film with the English dub or subtitles will have to be a personal choice as both have their advantages but I would have to say that the dubbed version is the easiest one to follow in places. Paprika is a simply stunning film and although definitely not to everyone's taste, it is easily one of my all time favourite films.

Great

The sort of film that inspires future filmmakers