SUMMER WARS
SAMA UOZU
2009,
Gkids,
114 min,
Japan,
Dir: Mamoru Hosoda
Summer is going great for teen math whiz Kenji - his secret crush, Natsuki, wants him to pose as her boyfriend at her grandmother’s 90th celebration. But when a near-impossible math problem turns up on the boy’s cellphone - and he solves it - it unlocks the door to Oz, a virtual world upon which millions depend for everything from online shopping to traffic control to national defense. A malicious program takes advantage of the security breach, growing stronger as it rampages through Oz, and Kenji must put a stop to it, all while maintaining his masquerade for Natsuki. An inventive mix of traditional family fun and cyberpunk sci-fi, SUMMER WARS is brilliantly animated, particularly in the pulsing pop-art visualization of Oz. In Japanese with English subtitles.