robin_lengton
So today I was looking at under 100.000 votes animation feature films here on IMDb when I came across Ponyo for the 50th time. I remember watching the trailer a couple of years ago and again earlier this year and both those times I was turned of by the childish story and lack of characters other than the mom, Ponyo and the guy. Today I decided to have an open mind and just watch the movie. This movie is so incredibly boring. I have to admit that I am not a fan of Miyazaki like most of the people seem. For me, Spirited Away was a 7 and Howl's Moving castle I gave a 6. The conclusion for me is that all the titles of Miyazaki are quite overrated and as cool as Spirited Away is, they are very very resembling. For me movies like The Secret of Kells, Moana and Kubo have more better animation and much more to the characters. I would not recommend anyone over 10 years old to watch this film. So my tip is, more than with any other movie, watch the trailer if you like it you will probably like the movie, but if the trailer doesn't convince you totally don't let the high ratings leads you, coz you will probably end up being bored for almost two hours.
Brian McAfee
Spoilers, but really, there's not much to give away, its Ghibli's version of Disney's version of the Little Mermaid.Synopsis: Ponyo is a goldfish who lives under the sea with her wizard father and many goldfish sisters. One day she ventures to the surface to satisfy her undying curiosity about the world above the surface. She meets a boy named Sosuke there, and a strong bond of love develops between them. She gets into her father's magical elixirs, miraculously acquires legs and goes to live with Sosuke on the land as a real human girl, but Sosuke must make a commitment to her, or she will dissolve into sea foam, and the world might end (not really sure about that last part, it wasn't very well explained)Story: 6.0 This, as the poster says, is the Little Mermaid. Well, kinda. Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Sea-Maid was actually a tragedy, and had an appropriately tragic ending. Now, there's nothing wrong with doing a Miyazaki version of the Little Mermaid, but I still can't give it high marks for originality, unlike many of his other movies which had brilliant stories. Really, the thing I had the biggest problem with was that Miyazaki set everything up to follow the Anderson version, even adding the sea foam element, but at the last minute, the great "test" ended up being nothing but an underwhelmingly simple question. Lots of buildup, and then the story Disneyed out, lacking the courage to stick with the Anderson ending. Just like Disney, they take Anderson's The Little Sea-Maid and tack on a happy ending, but this was obviously tacked on with little effort. Perhaps if the "test" had been more of an ordeal I could have accepted it. We might as well have been watching an animated version of one of Shakespeare's tragedies, but everybody lives in the end, with nothing more than a single line of dialogue to explain the difference.I understand that this was supposed to be a movie for five year olds, but Miyazaki seems to have forgotten that five year olds don't pay for movie tickets or buy DVDs, their parents do. This movie, unlike his other works, has little to offer older audiences. It doesn't have to end with the mermaid dead, but you could have at least let the tension build so audiences felt relief when the expected tragic end was avoided.Animation: 8.0 The animation here is not as strikingly beautiful or detailed as Spirited Away, but it's still gorgeous. The character designs are typical for Ghibli. Perhaps the best of the visuals appears about half way into the movie, where Ponyo has acquired the magic she needs to become human and she runs along the surface of the stormy ocean to get to the land and see Sosuke. It's impressive, and worth watching the movie if just for this sequence.Sound: 7.0 The Japanese cast definitely put more emotion into their performances. I wish Disney would hire more professional voice actors rather than going for big names. Not that Liam Neeson or Cate Blanchett did a bad job. Actually I enjoyed their performances. It's just that they are so recognizable, and also that there are so many truly great voice actors and actresses out there that could have done this, possibly better. A good example is during the scene where Sosuke and his mom are driving in the storm, trying to get home from the Senior Center while the waves crash around them. Tina Fey's performance is good, but Tomoko Yamaguchi was superior, vocally conveying the peril of her situation where Fey sounded more "in control." The music was almost entirely orchestral, and fit the feel of the movie. There were very few vocals. The credit song, "Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea," is cute and fun. Overall, it's a good soundtrack for the movie, but not one I would buy.Characters: 7.0 Characters are where Miyazaki has always excelled. He is such a keen observer of human behavior, especially that of children, that his animation captures them like magic and this is no exception. However, when re-creating the story of the Little Sea- Maid one character was left out, and that robbed the story of its necessary tension. In the original, there is another girl. The Prince has to choose between the Mermaid and a human Princess. It's a triangle, and that is of course why the ending fell flat. Of course he was going to choose Ponyo, there was nobody else. Also, Sosuke has a dad who is captain of a ship. The part seems to have been added just so Matt Damon could have half a dozen lines in the film. Add to this that earlier in the movie, Fujimoto, Ponyo's dad, states that he wants to rid the world of all the nasty humans, but now he's fine with his daughter becoming one and going off to live with them. That's a hell of a flip-flop to let go completely unexplained. Unfortunately, Fujimoto's miraculous change of heart seems to be the only development we get from any character in the show.Overall: 7.0 There were moments of pure magic in this film, as there are with all Miyazaki films. It was beautiful. While there may have been issues with the story, the animation and sound were still worthy of a Ghibli film, and that makes it worth watching. I recommend it, but only to those who have already seen all the others. If you still haven't seen Spirited Away, Mononoke Hime, Nausicaa, or My Neighbor Totoro, see those first.
