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Genre: Animated Feature, Fantasy, Family Director: Hayao Miyazaki Writer: Hayao Miyazaki Produced by Studio Ghibli A fisherman's young son is pleased to have caught a goldfish from the ocean. He speaks to the goldfish (which he names Ponyo) as he totes it around in a pail. Unbeknownst to him, Ponyo is the fish daughter of a sea magician, who's quite concerned over her disappearance. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous, the animation is fluid, there's always something fascinating to see, and all of this is matched by the wonderful characters. The young boy is kind and courageous, the sea magician is delightfully eccentric, and Ponyo herself is curious and determined, in addition to being adorable across several species. To say the story plays out predictably would be to miss the point. It is very sincere film, which still manages to be quite clever, and at times is surprisingly sophisticated. It's notable to mention that both children have both parents active in their lives (some to a greater or lesser extent). 5/5 - This film could not be improved further. It's my honest opinion that it is perfect.
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Aug 20, 2009 06:27
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 01:25 |
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First off, I love Miyazaki films. From Spirited Away to Princess Mononoke. I find that he has an artistic style that surpasses most animation by a landslide. His storytelling is often brilliant and touching. I couldn't say the same about this movie, which I found to be an incredible disappointment. Maybe because he's retelling an old story that isn't his own; or because he made the mistake of throwing computer animation out the window and using hand-drawn everything forfeiting vast amounts of time and resources. Probably a bit of both. I found the movie to make very little sense, and the animation to be lacking. The movie was supposed to be shown in the eyes of a child, but that shouldn't account for the total lack of plot. Things just go crazy for basically no reason, or the reason given has very little connection to the problem faced by the characters. It just seemed like a total random festival with cute scenes thrown in. The end just left me wondering what had happened and why everything is okay now? What? I enjoyed the action and fluidity in some scenes, but felt that they would've been better with computer animation. I'm against the stance that some old animators are taking against computer animation, and this cemented it for me. Instead of looking better, some scenes actually looked cheap; but mostly they just looked old. The high reviews for this movie make me wonder if people saw the same movie I did. I watched this in an American theater with English dubs, I don't know if that has something to do with it or not. Anyways, I want to give this movie a 1/5 because I was very much expecting another great Miyazaki movie, and was so disappointed. But it deserves at least a 2/5 because it did have some nice scenes that I legitimately enjoyed. So 2.5/5 Aygtets fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Aug 24, 2009 |
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Aug 23, 2009 00:36
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Having seen more Hayao Miyazaki films than Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, all I can say is perhaps I was more prepared for a movie which rests on the opposite end of the spectrum of material the man produces, alongside Kiki's Delivery Service and Totoro. In my opinion, every Miyazaki movie is a transcendent gem. The man can do no wrong, and Ponyo is not an exception. The IMPORTANT PLOT that's going on -- what the adults are striving to accomplish and avoid -- is pushed aside as irrelevant because the children the movie is based on don't know or give a poo poo about it. Maybe that's off-putting if you're already having trouble with willful suspension of disbelief, but Miyazaki always puts me in the gleeful mindframe of a six-year-old. I had no issues, and thought the movie was perfect. 5/5
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Aug 23, 2009 04:32
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I'm not really extremely well versed on Miyazaki's movies, but my girlfriend is a bit of a fan, so we went to see this. Compared to a film like Nausica, Ponyo is pretty light stuff, but obviously the target audience is different. Lets face it, Ponyo is a children's movie through and through. And as a children's film, I think it shines beautifully. The animation is mostly top notch, there's a few rough patches and whatnot, but it succeeds in capturing that strong feeling of fantasy intruding on normal reality. The two kids, especially Ponyo, are really friggin' cute, and I was tearing up in a few spots because it was just a wonderful and innocent little love story. That said, the plot is a bit thin, the big conflict in the film is ambiguously defined, and ambiguously resolved. There's a lot of questions I had at the end, and some of the major characters are never really fully fleshed out. But given that it's a children's film, this stuff can slide. While the details of the plot are thin, they're not really the main focus. There's a lot of exciting action scenes, or stuff that tugs at your heart, and the trademark sophisticated little touches that pop up (like the nicely depicted Cambrian/Silurian/Devonian era sealife that shows up). And seeing Ponyo run on top of the waves racing along in the storm was just an amazing scene. Ultimately the nitty gritty details aren't important. I mean it's a retelling of the Little Mermaid, you already know the overall plot. So overall verdict? If you're a Miyazaki fan, you'll probably love it, even with it's flaws. If you're not familar with his work, you'll feel like you just watched a kids film. But as I said, it really, really shines for a children's movie. Your kids should love it, and it's a really nice change of pace from the Pixar/Dreamworks 3D extravaganza's that have dominated the market for the last decade or so. As a kids movie: 4.5/5 As a "serious flim": 2.5/5 LogisticEarth fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Aug 26, 2009 |
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Aug 26, 2009 02:37
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