Ponyo (2009) (G)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Voices: Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey
Daddy Says:
My first experience with an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki was back in 2003 when his masterpiece Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. I'd never heard of him before, but the animation looked impressive from what I saw, so I decided to give something new a try. I found it to be an incredibly rewarding experience and a high water mark that I use to measure animated features by to this day. I've since gotten around to watching most of his other movies, but in my opinion only Princess Mononoke approached the greatness he achieved with his Oscar winner. My expectations may have been a bit too high after seeing Spirited Away first, comparing it to the rest of his movies, but I've always hoped that someday he would equal or surpass that magical film. His latest effort, Ponyo, may not succeed on every count, but it does still manage to impress much more than most animated features these days.
Ponyo is the story of a little boy named Sosuke who finds an unusual little fish and decides to keep it as a pet, giving it the name "Ponyo." What he doesn't know is that the fish is actually the daughter of a powerful king of the sea (impressively voiced by Liam Neeson). The king retrieves his daughter, but Ponyo's brief encounter with a human has filled her with a yearning to become one herself.
The story is similar to The Little Mermaid, in such as a sea creature longs to be human, falls in love with one, but sacrifices something to achieve her dream. The animation in Ponyo is extremely good, as it is in all of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Where I felt let down is in the fact that the movie is targeted squarely at those of the same age as the movie's protagonist: namely five-year-olds. Seeing as I'm nearly forty years older than that, I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as some of Miyazaki's other films. But don't let that stop you from seeing it. It may not be his best film, but it is a visually impressive, sweetly told fairy tale for all ages.
Daughter Says:
Ponyo is for the little kids who love to see magic. And I'm sure that to any of them it is a great movie, but it wasn't all that good in my opinion.
This movie went along the lines of the Little Mermaid, which I liked. But I just found it very hard to follow that a five year old could fall in love with a fish. It's kind of the same problem I have with Romeo and Juliet. They're just too young to experience love like that. Maybe I shouldn't dig too deep into the depths of the age problem.
There were many great things with this movie, like the art. All his drawings are amazing and they come to life spectacularly. Maybe just like Dad, I had a little too high of expectations. I love and will always love Hayao Miyazaki's films. Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, and Castle in the Sky are all really good movies. Yes some of them had their downfalls, but all of them were great. I will think the same for Ponyo, because Miyazaki put his soul into this movie, like he always does, and brought a new world to life. A world that's wonderful and mysterious.
I give Ponyo a rating of ***1/2
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Voices: Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey
Daddy Says:
My first experience with an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki was back in 2003 when his masterpiece Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. I'd never heard of him before, but the animation looked impressive from what I saw, so I decided to give something new a try. I found it to be an incredibly rewarding experience and a high water mark that I use to measure animated features by to this day. I've since gotten around to watching most of his other movies, but in my opinion only Princess Mononoke approached the greatness he achieved with his Oscar winner. My expectations may have been a bit too high after seeing Spirited Away first, comparing it to the rest of his movies, but I've always hoped that someday he would equal or surpass that magical film. His latest effort, Ponyo, may not succeed on every count, but it does still manage to impress much more than most animated features these days.
Ponyo is the story of a little boy named Sosuke who finds an unusual little fish and decides to keep it as a pet, giving it the name "Ponyo." What he doesn't know is that the fish is actually the daughter of a powerful king of the sea (impressively voiced by Liam Neeson). The king retrieves his daughter, but Ponyo's brief encounter with a human has filled her with a yearning to become one herself.
The story is similar to The Little Mermaid, in such as a sea creature longs to be human, falls in love with one, but sacrifices something to achieve her dream. The animation in Ponyo is extremely good, as it is in all of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Where I felt let down is in the fact that the movie is targeted squarely at those of the same age as the movie's protagonist: namely five-year-olds. Seeing as I'm nearly forty years older than that, I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as some of Miyazaki's other films. But don't let that stop you from seeing it. It may not be his best film, but it is a visually impressive, sweetly told fairy tale for all ages.
Rating for Ponyo: ****1/2
Daughter Says:
Ponyo is for the little kids who love to see magic. And I'm sure that to any of them it is a great movie, but it wasn't all that good in my opinion.
This movie went along the lines of the Little Mermaid, which I liked. But I just found it very hard to follow that a five year old could fall in love with a fish. It's kind of the same problem I have with Romeo and Juliet. They're just too young to experience love like that. Maybe I shouldn't dig too deep into the depths of the age problem.
There were many great things with this movie, like the art. All his drawings are amazing and they come to life spectacularly. Maybe just like Dad, I had a little too high of expectations. I love and will always love Hayao Miyazaki's films. Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, and Castle in the Sky are all really good movies. Yes some of them had their downfalls, but all of them were great. I will think the same for Ponyo, because Miyazaki put his soul into this movie, like he always does, and brought a new world to life. A world that's wonderful and mysterious.
I give Ponyo a rating of ***1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment