Mind Game

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Nate J A beautiful and thought provoking anime film. It blew me away the first time I watched it. Highly recommended. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/24 Full Review Taylor L The main character escapes being held at gunpoint by clenching his buttcheeks around the barrel and tearing the gun away. That's a crucial plot point. It's tough to admit, but a lot of the movies that we watch (and a large proportion of the ones we enjoy) are not all that original. Reboots are all over the place, sure, but even 'new' films usually trade heavily on the influences of properties that came before. There's not much shame in it; familiarity is comfortable and movies are meant to be an enjoyable bit of escapism. But when something emerges out of nowhere that challenges those standards, you realize just how narrow your expectations for film are, and how rewarding it can be to test those boundaries. Mind Game gives you an opportunity to do exactly that. It's too free-form to be particularly character-driven, but it compensates by being full of unpredictable possibility. It's not just the narrative that's up for grabs, writer-director Masaaki Yuasa is incredibly free-form when it comes to his animation style, blending live action in with a variety of visual reskins to the same characters. Stylistic consistency is not only unnecessary, it flat-out wouldn't work with the story's exploration of the unpredictable, ever-changing, constantly ongoing nature of existence; it's a psychedelic trip but one worth sticking around for. One minor nitpick is the slight lull in pace in the middle of the film, which is really noticeable when you compare it to the frantic, almost manic beginning and ending scenes (apart from an exuberant, colorful, and wordless dance segment). But that's barely a concern when originality and kinetic energy are pumping through every pixel. (4.5/5) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Its out of our normal bubble kind of space, takes you away of your confort zone and brings you through different reality's that you can actual feel and relate, the ending is just sublime Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Incomparable in its dynamism, profundity and its inexhaustible power to entertain. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A vanity project, but one that has some heart with its characters and a purpose to be so wild with its various animation methods. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Incredible fusion of various animation styles and genres. Calling the film experimental does not even begin to cut it. An unconventional yet still easily digestible masterpiece, and personally for me, one of the best Act 1's ever, setting the atmosphere and introducing the main themes and characters beautifully. Even disregarding the psychedelic colour palette, the experience of consuming this film feels like a psychedelic trip. As usual, Masaaki Yuasa doesn't hold back and takes full advantage of the animation medium, with peculiar angles and framing, and spectacular camera movement and perspective changes (the scene where the protagonist gets down on his knees to profess his love, while the camera zooms out rapidly from a close up of his face to a bird's eye view of the entire city from the clouds springs to mind). So many unique choices that all added to the fun and zany experience of the film, like the random moments a real human face would be superimposed on top of a character, usually in a moment where the character is expressing something very emotively, so that seemingly random choice does seem to help convey the character's feelings and the mood of the scene very purposefully. Simple, timeless themes of existentialism with a simple and timeless message at the end about living life to the fullest. But the way these themes are explored and the message conveyed, is something I never have and probably never will see. I haven't even touched on the whole 'twist' - not really the twist but the montage at the end that shows how almost all the characters we see are connected through multiple generations. This adds an even deeper layer on the thematic exploration of life, emphasising our individual choices in life, hinting at some form of destiny, higher power or karmic retribution to help guide us... but I'll leave it at that, as I feel that's kind of like an easter egg (but not just there for fanservice, but to add a deeper layer and understanding to the film), and simply sitting back and experiencing the crazy roller-coaster like experience of the film is the most important component. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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