Far from resorting to easy, reactionary technophobia, Hosoda shows Japan's age-old traditions being upheld throughout different generations, with the beautifully realised digital community of OZ proving as much the solution as the problem.

Full Review | Mar 28, 2011

The filmmakers can't keep the strands of their clumsy plot straight, but they create brilliant images and manipulate them with blithe abandon.

| Jan 20, 2011

An enjoyably trippy Japanese animated feature from director Mamoru Hosoda, Summer Wars combines real-world drama (school crushes, testy relatives) with virtual-world dramatics.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 20, 2011

The story's been done better (and balder) in Die Hard With A Vengeance

| Original Score: c | Jan 16, 2011

The relationship between Kenji and Natsuki unfolds as blandly as a Debra Messing rom-com.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 14, 2011

It's a sugar rush of candy-colored images, a beautifully drawn tale of family tradition and a bracing brain tonic about the Internet's charms and vulnerabilities.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 7, 2011

Summer Wars is every bit as good as anime fans have been hoping it would be.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 7, 2011

A sophisticated yet poignant family entertainment with an appeal beyond Japanese animation buffs.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 6, 2011

Fanciful and beautifully drawn but leaning a bit too much on clichs and coincidences...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 6, 2011

It's no coincidence that the Second Life-style virtual universe thrown into turmoil in Summer Wars goes by the name of Oz. This spectacular anime entry from Mamoru Hosoda echoes that 1939 classic.

| Jan 6, 2011

Running almost two hours, its increasingly convoluted narrative may be too difficult to follow for younger viewers. But its thematic ambition and dazzling visual style ultimately make it one of the more rewarding anime efforts to reach these shores.

| Jan 6, 2011

The story unfolds in unconvincing fashion, and the sci-fi elements seem silly rather than suspenseful.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 1, 2011

It's hard to appreciate things like the character detail amid the insufferably squealy voicing and arbitrary suspense.

| Dec 29, 2010

There's a lovely, unhurried quality to Mr. Hosoda's storytelling, which nicely matches the clean, classically composed images of his outer story.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 29, 2010

Hosoda adds enough dimensions to his characters and kinetic battles that the serene real world seems like a dream state.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 24, 2010

Celebrates togetherness and bravery as much as binary-mathematics expertise.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 22, 2010