Road to the Oscars 2024 with a movie I have been waiting for, for so long, but I most admit it left me a bit disappointed. It is nominated in one category, that being animated feature.
Sure, this is still a good movie and a great original felling fantasy movie from Miyazaki, but it's more the form of the movie that feels like his most pretentious one for better and worse. The way it addresses its own topics can feel a bit much, and addressing inner conflicts in your life so directly can feel nearly too intimate for a movie like that, where some of its parts don't really seem to connect to that part. But you will still enjoy a masterfully done fantasy movie, and there are so many things to love here. Overall a fun time but I just need to see it one more time to make some piece with it. It has had me thinking about it constantly for better and worse.
A young boy named Mahito loses her mother and moves to a new home with his father and new mom. He is drawn to a tower by a heron and after his new mother is kidnapped he goes on a rescue mission.
The animation is as always gorgeous and has a bit of a different look to what I'm used to with Miyazaki. Normally it's these clean and detailed backgrounds, and while they are still here and their it's more of a watercolor looking movie and some of the total frames look amazing like this. But this made me think the movie looked a bit unclean as to what I'm used to. The movie just doesn't look as sharp as I expected, and I was left a bit disappointing by the detaining at times. I still see the animation as gorgeous, just not up to the same standards I'm used to from this company and director.
I really liked the fantasy adventure vibes and the world created here. It feels like the most out there world I have seen Miyazaki do, and I don't think I quite understand it fully, but I also think that was one of the overall points. The plot is simple but affective and presents so many interesting and funny characters and settings. This is a movie you can really get lost in and want to see so much more of its world. It feels unique and like itself, it fells like something familiar yet nothing you have seen before, and that is impressive.
This mixed with so many amazing creatures makes the movie feel so unique. The small white things, all the bird creatures, all feel like their very own thing together with the magic of the world and its rules.
This is though disturbed a bit into the movie when the metaphors take an even more meta approach. I won't spoil anything, but the way the movie shifts tone and what it wants to tell, feels nearly surreal in the context of the movie I was just watching. You can read it in many ways but the way it addresses Miyazaki himself, his son, the future of Ghibli, it becomes a lot and while it's interesting to listen too, it can feel a bit out of place in a movie like this.
The score is very beautiful and well done. It elevates all the animations and going on's in the world with this beautiful piano.
Oscar predictions: I am actually surprised this isn't nominated in more categories, but the academy has never been the best at appreciating animated movies in other categories, so I'll just talk about the one category it's in. And it's a stacked category this time. I think this has a fair chance of winning, maybe being Miyazaki last movie and to really appreciate a master one last time, but I think this movie and Spiderverse are the once really leading the competition. My money and my heart are still with Spiderverse, but I wouldn't be mad or surprised if this won.
Sure, this is still a good movie and a great original felling fantasy movie from Miyazaki, but it's more the form of the movie that feels like his most pretentious one for better and worse. The way it addresses its own topics can feel a bit much, and addressing inner conflicts in your life so directly can feel nearly too intimate for a movie like that, where some of its parts don't really seem to connect to that part. But you will still enjoy a masterfully done fantasy movie, and there are so many things to love here. Overall a fun time but I just need to see it one more time to make some piece with it. It has had me thinking about it constantly for better and worse.
A young boy named Mahito loses her mother and moves to a new home with his father and new mom. He is drawn to a tower by a heron and after his new mother is kidnapped he goes on a rescue mission.
The animation is as always gorgeous and has a bit of a different look to what I'm used to with Miyazaki. Normally it's these clean and detailed backgrounds, and while they are still here and their it's more of a watercolor looking movie and some of the total frames look amazing like this. But this made me think the movie looked a bit unclean as to what I'm used to. The movie just doesn't look as sharp as I expected, and I was left a bit disappointing by the detaining at times. I still see the animation as gorgeous, just not up to the same standards I'm used to from this company and director.
I really liked the fantasy adventure vibes and the world created here. It feels like the most out there world I have seen Miyazaki do, and I don't think I quite understand it fully, but I also think that was one of the overall points. The plot is simple but affective and presents so many interesting and funny characters and settings. This is a movie you can really get lost in and want to see so much more of its world. It feels unique and like itself, it fells like something familiar yet nothing you have seen before, and that is impressive.
This mixed with so many amazing creatures makes the movie feel so unique. The small white things, all the bird creatures, all feel like their very own thing together with the magic of the world and its rules.
This is though disturbed a bit into the movie when the metaphors take an even more meta approach. I won't spoil anything, but the way the movie shifts tone and what it wants to tell, feels nearly surreal in the context of the movie I was just watching. You can read it in many ways but the way it addresses Miyazaki himself, his son, the future of Ghibli, it becomes a lot and while it's interesting to listen too, it can feel a bit out of place in a movie like this.
The score is very beautiful and well done. It elevates all the animations and going on's in the world with this beautiful piano.
Oscar predictions: I am actually surprised this isn't nominated in more categories, but the academy has never been the best at appreciating animated movies in other categories, so I'll just talk about the one category it's in. And it's a stacked category this time. I think this has a fair chance of winning, maybe being Miyazaki last movie and to really appreciate a master one last time, but I think this movie and Spiderverse are the once really leading the competition. My money and my heart are still with Spiderverse, but I wouldn't be mad or surprised if this won.