Beautiful, striking and, at times, effectively disturbing. Spirited Away is a feat of animation. It centers on Chihiro, a ten year old girl who is moving house with her slightly dim parents. They discover a seemingly abandoned village, and the parents gorge themselves on the food that has been mysteriously prepared. As Chihiro explores, it becomes dark, and spirits start appearing. When she returns to her parents, she finds that they have turned into pigs. From here on out the movie gets increasingly surreal.
This is one of those reviews where I will run out of things to say a long time prior to running out of pictures I want to show yall.
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| The chillest guy in the 'verse. |
Not that there is little to say about this awesome movie, but literally every frame is like a painting.
It has a strong 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' feel to it. Chihiro is selfless in helping Haku and her parents (and pretty much everyone else she meets) but it's also a film about her growing up. The whole thing is a series of lessons, but where 'Spirited Away' triumphs is in getting the viewer to care about what is happening to Chihiro.
I rarely feel much compassion for fictional characters - that sounds bad, doesn't it. I used to more, I guess. But in the same way that many elements of horror no longer scare me, many devices intended to create an empathic connection between myself and the character I now roll my eyes at, or even worse, they result in me disliking them more for being so cliche.
A good horror is scary because of all the acting, the details, and the writing. And some other things. But writing is important, is my point... I think...
Anyway, whatever they did with Chihiro, they did well. You can tell what she's thinking all the time, without her overdoing it like kids in almost all other movies (both animated and live action). The way she moves about and talks is good, I particularly liked the kind of mini "bleh" sound she makes as she falls over, or has some kind of accident.
The designs for the sets is superb. All the areas are unique, while sharing a similar style. From the bath house to the water train. The designs for the spirits are also great. They bring to life a Japanese parade, and fill the bathhouse with life.
Some of the more minor characters were a little flat, and the plot began to get increasingly convoluted towards the end of the second half, however. Some of the simplicity is lost, and plot points are made uncleanly. This is definitely a movie to watch several times to fully grasp.
It has a strong 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' feel to it. Chihiro is selfless in helping Haku and her parents (and pretty much everyone else she meets) but it's also a film about her growing up. The whole thing is a series of lessons, but where 'Spirited Away' triumphs is in getting the viewer to care about what is happening to Chihiro.
I rarely feel much compassion for fictional characters - that sounds bad, doesn't it. I used to more, I guess. But in the same way that many elements of horror no longer scare me, many devices intended to create an empathic connection between myself and the character I now roll my eyes at, or even worse, they result in me disliking them more for being so cliche.
A good horror is scary because of all the acting, the details, and the writing. And some other things. But writing is important, is my point... I think...
Anyway, whatever they did with Chihiro, they did well. You can tell what she's thinking all the time, without her overdoing it like kids in almost all other movies (both animated and live action). The way she moves about and talks is good, I particularly liked the kind of mini "bleh" sound she makes as she falls over, or has some kind of accident.
The designs for the sets is superb. All the areas are unique, while sharing a similar style. From the bath house to the water train. The designs for the spirits are also great. They bring to life a Japanese parade, and fill the bathhouse with life.
Some of the more minor characters were a little flat, and the plot began to get increasingly convoluted towards the end of the second half, however. Some of the simplicity is lost, and plot points are made uncleanly. This is definitely a movie to watch several times to fully grasp.
Spirited Away: 82.4