Film Rating: A
Kids movies are at their best when they can be equally enjoyed by children and adults. But rarely does a kids film transcend that, making the adults in the audience feel like children once more. That's the mark of a true masterpiece. Legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki has arguably never made a film that couldn't be described with the word masterpiece:
My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and the list goes on. His latest film,
Ponyo, is a return to his earlier years of light, fun children's entertainment, but adults will enjoy it just as much as the little ones. It transcends any age line, and is nothing short of a masterpiece of modern animation.
Since Miyazaki is one of my favorite filmmakers, I would have seen this movie even if I had to drive fifty miles, but unlike his past works, this has been given a wide release in America, with a larger marketing campaign. I've tried not to watch any of the trailers or read a plot synopsis, however, because I wanted to go in cold, to let the movie tell me about itself. And that's the way to see
Ponyo. It's about a young boy and a fish who wants to become a real human girl. That's all I'll reveal here, because if by chance this is the first review you've read of the film, then I'd rather not divulge too much.
Returning to a storytelling style similar to
Totoro,Ponyo is not a plot-based film. There's a simple story, but it's really just a vehicle to allow the characters to interact and have fun, and movies like that are rare and valuable. Unlike
Howl's Moving Castle, Miyazaki's last film which got a little too involved in its own complex plot,
Ponyo is a simple, delightful journey that the youngest of children could enjoy without having to think too hard. The film is always creative, often touching, and downright endearing from start to finish.
But the word that best describes the movie is
magical. Truly, utterly enchanting. There's a quality about it reminiscent of Walt-era Disney movies. The plot is thin, but the characters are rich and the visuals are astounding. Mix in some great music, and the film transcends simple cinema and becomes an experience.
Speaking of the visuals, I'm not sure if my eyes have ever been this happy in a movie theater before. I'm an animation junkie, and oh how I have longed to see a traditionally animated and hand-painted film on the big screen. In the CGI age, movies like this are impossible to come by. But every frame of
Ponyo was animated by hand-not even digital ink and paint were used. No American animated film has been made like that since the eighties, and even Miyazaki hasn't done that in a while.
The animation is
astounding. Utilizing an art style unlike anything he's ever done before, Miyazaki's backgrounds look like they are torn from the world's greatest storybook, even going so far as to give the appearance of watercolors. The characters themselves are very stylized, and I don't think a single straight line appears in the film. The art design is very wavy and curvy, and unlike anything that has ever been done before. Every frame of this movie could be a painting in an art museum. And the colors. Wow. There's something stylized about them, too, and on the big-screen, you can truly tell the difference between hand-painted and digital ink and paint. I certainly prefer the former. On a purely visual level,
Ponyo is an absolute work of art.
Joe Hisaishi, the composer whose music narrates all of Miyazaki's works, is expectedly strong again, but more grandiose and inventive than anything he's ever done before. The music sounds reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, or other great classical musicians. In fact, long dialogue-free stretches of the film reminded me of
Fantasia because of Hisaishi's music.
Ponyo is a near-perfect movie, and another winner from Miyazaki. For American release, it has (obviously) been dubbed in English with an American voice cast. I don't inherently object to the practice of dubbing, because young children obviously can't follow subtitles, but I do think dubbing waters down the experience, no matter how strong the cast is. But I don't think there will ever be a day when we see Miyazaki's movies in American theaters with subtitles, so I have to live with it. Be that as it may, this is not one of the stronger dubs I've ever heard.
Frankie Jonas voices lead character Sosuke, and was obviously picked because of his association to the Jonas Brothers, hoping to bring in screaming fan girls. The kid can't act, and while his age does give him an inherent innocence necessary for the character, he's often quite flat in the role. Many of the lines sound as though he's actually having trouble sounding the words out. He's not horrible, but he did make me wish I was watching the Japanese version of the film. Noah Cyrus (Miley's younger sister, also probably chosen to bring in screaming fan girls) is better as Ponyo. She's sincere and somewhat endearing, but a bit loud and over the top in parts.
The adult cast fares better, but Disney's practice of casting celebrity voices in the roles is never one I've approved of and
Ponyo didn't change my mind. Liam Neeson plays Ponyo's father, Fujimoto, and while he does a very good job, hearing such an iconic actor's voice coming out of a Japanese animated character's mouth was incredibly distracting, and took me out of the movie. His voice didn't fit with the animation at all. The same goes for Matt Damon as Sosuke's father. Tina Fey plays Sosuke's mother, and while I didn't recognize her voice, it was distracting simply because of Fey's blandness in the role. Usually, she has more spunk than this. Cate Blanchett channels the spirit of Galadriel for her role as Granmammare, and does a fine job. The only celebrity voices that didn't distract were those of Betty White and Cloris Leachman as old retired ladies at the home where Sosuke's mother works. Iconic old ladies playing old ladies works quite well.
Overall, this isn't the worst dub I've ever heard, but it's merely passable...until they turn the end credits song into a hip-hop number, which made me want to throw my drink at the screen. I'm sure the original Japanese voice track sounds infinitely better, as is true for all of Miyazaki's films, and I can't wait to hear it on DVD. I have not factored in my complaints about the English dub into my letter grade for the film, because it doesn't represent the real movie. Getting to see these visuals on the big screen is enough to excuse the mediocre dub, though I still wait patiently for the day when I can watch a film like this in theaters with subtitles.
Ponyo is an excellent film, one that put me under its spell for 100 minutes and never let go. Easily one of the year's best films, it can (and should) be enjoyed by people of all ages. 5-year-olds and 85-year-olds alike should enjoy it immensely, and it's a staggeringly stronger alternative to studio tripe like
G-Force. For the first time, a Miyazaki film is getting a wide release, and I hope America embraces it, because this is everything animation should be and more.