★ 7 / 10
Patema Inverted is a film about a split
Dsnake1
Patema Inverted is a film about a split world where gravity points in different directions. This affects people, objects, and even natural stone. Wherever an…
Patema Inverted is a film about a split world where gravity points in different directions. This affects people, objects, and even natural stone. Wherever an object was created decides which direction the object falls. Of course, without some kind of protection, objects and people can fall into the sky.
That's the concept. As a concept, it's incredibly interesting. The gripping moments, awesome actions scenes, and interesting animation sequences have limitless potential. This movie fills that potential and does a fantastic job of executing the concept in a way that keeps things interesting.
Unfortunately, that's one of the only things the movie did exceedingly well. The pacing of the movie was strange. It started rather slowly until some revelations by the characters drew us into the action. The film takes a large amount of time to introduce us to Patema, one of our protagonists. While this is a good thing, Patema isn't an incredibly interesting character. She's the Chief's daughter, sure, but that only comes into play for a few lines of dialogue. She has some really emotional scenes that just don't feel as emotional as they should because the character depth isn't quite up to snuff.
In addition, Age, the other protagonist, doesn't get the same treatment Patema does, at least not right away. Until later in the movie, the only things we really know about Age is that he isn't happy with the authoritarian nature of his school/government.
The antagonist of the movie and the rest of the supporting cast are all extremely one-sided: dumb, in love, mindless goons, etc.
While the pacing is inconsistent and the movie starts off slow, once it hits its pace, it really takes off. The two protagonists really help develop each other, although the short amount of time it takes for each one to be willing to sacrifice their lives for the other is much too short.
Altogether, the plot is a means to an end. It is designed to force the characters together so their one-sided-ness isn't nearly as glaring as well as to give us a reason to see the world. The twist at the end wasn't terribly surprising, but it was executed well.
All in all, the movie was good, not great. The concept was fantastic, but the rest of the movie just held the concept back. It's certainly worth a watch (probably two), but it isn't something I'll make a point to watch at least once a year.
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★ 6 / 10
Neat concept, if unremarkable execution
blott2319-1
It seems like I've seen trailers for several different films/shorts that are about people who live in two worlds where their gravity is pulling each of them…
It seems like I've seen trailers for several different films/shorts that are about people who live in two worlds where their gravity is pulling each of them the opposite direction. It's a neat idea, and I liked how they revealed it in Patema Inverted. It made sense that the two societies would be afraid of one another, and view each other as outcasts. I found the friendship formed between the two main characters to be extremely charming, and it was enhanced by the fact that their relationship felt threatened because of the forces that are fighting to keep them apart. While it never felt like they had much agency in improving their lives, at least they bonded in a relatable way.I did find that the villain in Patema Inverted was more than a little over-the-top. While I can tolerate some mustache-twirling bad guys, for some reason here it felt exaggerated a bit too much. Also, the resolution at the end came out of nowhere and didn't really make sense to me. I understood what was happening, but it didn't follow a logical pattern based on what I'd seen up to that point. But, this isn't a film that is constructed in our normal world, so I should give it the benefit of the doubt when it comes to standard rules of logic. When I allowed myself to let go of that kind of critical thinking, I did have a good time watching Patema Inverted. It is a neat premise, and they made a nice little movie based on it (even if it is not one I expect to return to any time soon.)
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★ 7 / 10
Decent, but oddly paced
wintersoldier-44268
The animation is stellar, no surprises there. Voice acting is great as well. Where this film suffers is pacing; it tends to get a little jarring from time to…
The animation is stellar, no surprises there. Voice acting is great as well. Where this film suffers is pacing; it tends to get a little jarring from time to time, and the ending feels... incomplete. It just ends when it feels like it needed just that one last concluding scene where the plot is wrapped up and you just don't get that. But that aside, I had a good time watching this film, even though a lot of the emotion felt a little hollow. The cinematography was definitely what made this movie a film worth watching if nothing else.
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7.3/10
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"Anyone telling someone to get subtitles because they assume they're lazy, you ever think someone might be visually impaired and cannot read the subtitles? Jerks." THENM HOW CAN YOU SEE THE MOVIE!