Forum - View topicREVIEW: Ponyo
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Guilhem
 Posts: 181 |
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I read Zac's review and thought he was right on the money
Then I read Neko-sensei's post and thought I should watch this movie again... |
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spoony
 Posts: 117 Location: Illinois, US |
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I haven't seen all of them yet (shame on me). Here's what I've seen: Spirited Away Princess Mononoke Nausicaa Kiki's Delivery Service Howl's Moving Castle My Neighbor Totoro Of these, I'd say that Kiki and Totoro are more intended for children, though I know a lot of older people enjoy them, myself included. I base my reactions partly on those of my little sisters (one is eleven and one is seven). They loved Kiki and Totoro. The older one thought Howl was okay but the younger couldn't sit through it, and both were scared of Spirited Away (because of the whole deal with No Face eating people). |
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MetatronM
Posts: 281 |
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Umm, wouldn't "diehard Miyazaki fans" be precisely the ones who would know NOT to expect Ponyo to be Spirited Away? Wouldn't they be the ones mostly likely to know the Miyazaki of Totoro and Kiki? The only ones who would be expecting anything else from Ponyo would be the people only vaguely familiar with Miyazaki's work post-Mononoke. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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You could go with the MPAA ratings. Because Disney is not allowed to cut or change any of the video for Miyazaki's movie, so while they can fiddle with the audio, you can't, say, work Princess Mononoke down to a G like you might with a ForKids show, you're going to be getting the movie that was shown in Japan. But you're also forgetting the intermediate point of "family movie," i.e. a movie that both children and adults can like, which is where most of Pixar's movies fall, for example. So I ask Zac: would you consider this a children's movie or a family movie? Also, why can't your reviews go up on Rotten Tomatoes? You're just as professional if not more than most of the internet reviews that they use. I would love to have seen your review of Dragonball: Evolution posted there. |
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Kyogissun
 Posts: 676 |
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That's the problem here, this isn't JUST a Miyazaki flick, it's a Studio Ghibli film. I've been watching Ghibli films since I first saw Totoro on VHS, then Kiki, then Mononoke, then Spirited Away, then Castle in the Sky, then Porco Rosso, then that one... subbed only film, THEN Pom Poko (think I spelled that right) and FINALLY I saw Howl. It seems like this movie is focus on the CHARACTERS entirely and not necessarily giving the world ITSELF a life. To be specific, one could go on and on about the great characters in previous titles, but Kiki, CitS, Howl and ESPECIALLY Spirited Away, had amazing, massive, lively and unique locations/settings. The characters, to me, are a nice addition to a Ghibli film and outside of that one that's undubbed, the others I don't focus on the characters so much. I want a moderate bit of backstory, depth and a very visually impressive world. It feels, to me, that Ponyo probably just isn't what I am wanting. Like mentioned in the review, it's a lighter meal in comparison to the more multi-course dishes that are other Ghibli films. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Tough call. I wouldn't use the word "can" - certainly anyone could enjoy it, regardless of age or any other factor. I'd say it walks the line between 'family film' and 'children's film' and in the end falls just barely into the 'children's film' category. Even the deeper subtext that was discussed earlier in the thread isn't that much to chew on, but the Lisa character is so well-written that it does provide something for adults to latch onto outside of the all the whimsy otherwise. A lot of this film - most of the third act, really - is Cute Little Kids Being Cute Little Kids, which will either delight you or wear a little thin. I suspect sentimental parents will get more out of it than anyone else outside the film's obvious target audience, which is undeniably little kids. I want to stress that that isn't a criticism at all - it is absolutely an excellent children's film, hence why I gave it an A-.
That's very kind of you to say; thank you. I'm not sure what the process is for appearing on Rotten Tomatoes; I'd have to check and see if other niche film sites that feature genre reviews only are included there and then figure out the process to submit our credentials for review. |
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zslobber
Posts: 9 |
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I haven't seen Ponyo yet, but I'm a little suspicious of this review. Mainly because it seems that Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away are fairy tales in their own ways. And filled with plenty of gaps in logic. Let's make a list:
In Princess Mononoke a prince goes on a quest and meets godlike creatures. Yes there's a lot more going on there, but when you boil thing down the plot is built upon fair-tale elements. "The land is sick, if only royalty with super-human strength could somehow heal it and the heart of a young maiden..." And as for Spirited Away, isn't the whole concept of being spirited away kind of associated with fairy tale-like stories to begin with? And here parents turn into pigs. Pigs! And what was up with the good twin sister of Yubaba? How was that in any way a logical plot development? I guess I just don't understand how leaps of logic and a fairy tale atmosphere would make this film that different from it's predecessors. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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It's not so much kind as true. I'm not saying you'd be a "Top Critic" like Roger Ebert, but they allow so many rambling blogs to be listed as "reviews" that not having the ones here by you and others which are so much more cogent and well-written seems stupid. |
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vapwaazu
 Posts: 115 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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I would say the ones that seems to be "for adults" would be Porco Rosso and Only Yesterday. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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And Princess Mononoke, with its various decapitations, is kid-friendly?? I'd have considered that to be a shoe-in for "not for children." |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Yeah, I have to say, as someone who actually prefers the more straightforward, (relatively) down-to-earth Miyazaki films that are lighter on subtext and symbolism, with Kiki's Delivery Service being my favourite Ghibli film, Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea is quite honestly my favourite Miyazaki made since Porco Rosso (and my favourite Ghibli made since Whisper of the Heart), even if the third act didn't quite sit as right with me as the first two acts. (It got a little too quest-ish, which is the exact same problem I had with the third act of Coraline.)
I'm looking forward to seeing it dubbed and will definitely be rooting for it to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, even if I'm currently rooting for Up to win (though that may change after I see Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox). |
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BakuganFan
 Posts: 15 |
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I've Never Heard Of A New Hayao Miyazaki Film Comimg In Theaters. I Can't Wait To See It.
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RebirthedDuelist
 Posts: 80 Location: U.S and in April 2010,Tekkoshocon |
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all of them is for kids and adults. maybe princess monoke is somewat gorey, but of course i still let my lil bros watch it.
now i didn't see ponyo but i hav high expectations for it. now if he made more films like howl's moving castle or spirited away....lets just say me and my family will be quite excited. So far miyazaki's works always came out very well. i hope he makes a new film, when that comes out, you can bet i'll skip school to watch it. |
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Northlander
 Posts: 901 |
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I'm actually curious about this too, partly because having seen (and loved) Totoro and Kiki, I would like to see how Ponyo is more of a children's movie than the aforementioned.
Which reminds me: How is it compared to Panda Kopanda (or Panda go Panda, whichever is correct?) From what I could remember, that particular title had its own flair of child-like whimsy, with the main lead moving in with a panda family and dealing with a lot of absurdness, like running a train all over the place or helping the panda family find a way to be able to live with everyone else while also working at the local animal park (including punching out of work before taking the subway home.) |
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REDOG
Posts: 37 |
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Bribe, bribe! Zac. Just because it is a miyazaki film doesn't mean it deserves so many A'. Especially in the light of the review. Rarely in all anime news network something gets such a high grades. Even better things doesn't get treated this softly.
For example kids films with better reviews in buried treasure are getting lower grades. For the record i doesn't have alot agianst miyazaki and i like his films too except that i think takahata is the more talented of the two and should had gotten more fame instead of miyazaki. |
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