21 July 2012

Movie Saturday II: The Girl who Leapt Through Time

Movie Saturday continues, this time with the anime film The Girl who Leapt Through Time  In a really strange coincidence, this movie was almost the exact same time length as Mirror Mirror, and to be honest it felt longer too.  However, it felt longer because it felt that the movie had more twists and turns, and I felt more absorbed in where the plot was going to go.

For those who may not know, this film features a plot about a girl.  She leapt through time.  Thankfully, most people will get the gist from the title rather than this review.  Anyway, for the Cliff Notes/Wikipedia version, a somewhat klutzy senior high school girl gains the ability to jump through time to try to fix her mistakes... she uses her powers to anticipate quizzes, avoid accidents that others get into, and thankfully prevents her untimely demise from a set of faulty bicycle brakes.  As is human nature, she ends up using her powers selfishly to be able to indulge in fun (and sleep).  She and her two (male) friends get into a few hijinks with her powers, and she finds out that her powers have consequences.

As this is coming right after a first viewing, I could certainly see a major undercurrent of a child not wanting to grow past being a child.  She uses her powers not just to avoid death, but even to avoid pain and even being uncomfortable -- as when one of the characters is trying to have a conversation with her, she uses her powers to try to turn it aside, ultimately choosing to avoid the whole conversation.

Through the movie (and its three endings), the movie expresses the message that the most emotional times in your life are when you are in these situations, and that these situations are not necessarily things to be afraid of.  I don't know if that's a theme of my own reviews, but these emotions are not only natural, but it really is what makes us human and what makes us special.  The heroine finds out certain things in the end and finally has a sense of purpose with her jumping past her own hedonistic desires, and her desire to make things right is where her character and her love show through the most.

For a rating, I would rate this a 3.2. We watched this as a Netflix movie, and I would not be surprised if we were to purchase this movie at some point.

No comments: