Tuesday 2 March 2010

Princess Mononoke: A slightly more serious venture from artistic genius Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke makes Miyazaki my favourite animator of all time. A traditional (feeling) storyline which uses the animation to emphasize the seriousness of the situation allowing the viewer to really want the couple to succeed. If you know anything about Japanese culture you'll see the intended hidden message here and it's a very important message. The fact that the bad-guy is a girl is a good twist. 4 Stars

Howl's Moving Castle: Miyazaki's worst to date. It's surprising since he rarely tells a bad story but here we have unlikable characters and an irrelevant plot. I always like his animating but come-on? This was dull. 2.5 Stars

Spirited Away: Perfect in every way. Great storyline, great characters—even the way it is animated into focus you can tell Miyazaki is pushing perfection. I'll admit if there ever was a moment when I nearly cried for a character on film it's when she can't tell which pigs are her parents. Miyazaki's best work. 4 Stars

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