In theaters 2009, and translated in English in 2010, and released in America in 2011.
Time
114 minutes
Director
Mamoru Hosoda
Main voice actors
Michael Sinterniklaas, Brina Pelancia, Pan Dougherty, Todd Heberkorn, J. Michael Tatum, Maxey Whitehead
Genre
Fantasy/Foreign
Rated
PG
Plot
Everything is normal for Kenji, a young high school student trying out for the Math Olympics, when the summer of 2010 comes along. Spending most of his time on OZ (a new technology based website which is accessible through your computer, phone, even your TV. Basically anything linked to electricity and has a screen is accessible to OZ.) Kenji wasn’t expecting the most popular girl in school asks him to do a job for her, and little does he know this job would also include saving the world from an A.I. Hacker which is destroying OZ, and in doing so, destroying the world. With the help of a giant family, and all of Japan holding onto their cell phones/lap-tops, Kenji must fight off the Hacker before it's too late, and the whole world is engulfed in chaos.
Personal Rating
★★★
Summer Wars is a funny, light-hearted film with a few corny scenes on the side. Complete with nerd humor, and speaking the reality of a situation, it beautifully displays the power of a family in hard times, and with healing old family wounds without going too elaborate. The plot of the movie is set in a rather happy place, making it a little fuzzy with sugar on top. I think the creators did a great job walking on the thin line between childish and extremely cheesy. Having just enough children's play in the middle of an online war to make it worth watching.
