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The Anime Critic: "Spirited Away"
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Jan 27, 2008
32
of
41 people found this review helpful
Once the highest grossing film in Japan and director Hayao Miyazaki's supposed last animated motion picture, SPIRITED AWAY did manage to meet most of my expectations. The Oscar winning animated movie about a girl who is transported into a spirit world was told well, and was directed perfectly. The visuals are just as beautiful as the direction.
Chihiro, a 12 year old Japanese schoolgirl is moving from the large, crowded city to the small, quiet suburbs. "It will be an adventure, Chihiro," her father assures her. And it is quite an adventure she gets. Chihiro and her parents get transported to a spirit world while they stop to take a break at what seems to be an old abandoned amusement park. Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs, but Chihiro isn't. Chihiro is befriended by a mysterious boy named Haku, who helps her get a job at a bath house for gods and monsters. The bath house is run by a witch named Yubaba.
As usual, excellent direction and superb performences in the English and Japanese versions of the movie. There weren't many amazing special effects, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. The movie is great just the way Studio Ghibli has delivered it to us. The characters could have been explained further, but with my past experiences with Miyazaki's movies, I have noticed he doesn't like to reveal too much about a character.
This title, however, was not as good as other Studio Ghibli movies, such as Miyazaki's MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1993) and his critically acclaimed animated picture, PRINCESS MONONOKE (1999).
Those who enjoyed this film would enjoy Hayao Miyazaki's KIKI's DELIVERY SERVICE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, and PRINCESS MONONOKE. |
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