PONYO [2008] review
December 5, 2009 · Print This Article
In what is probably the very last Hayao Miyazaki film, PONYO unfortunately does not place a cherry on top of a grand collection of animation masterpieces, but rather puts an odd bookend of a movie with almost no story and a pointless climax utterly free of suspense.
I will not go into a full restatement of my love for many of Miyazki’s films, or how I think TOTORO and NAUSICCA are flawless masterpieces here.
I did not have great expectations for PONYO, but I still expected it to transport me into a world of wonder in at least a few scenes. However, other than the opening scene there was very little wonder in this world, and too much of a (literally) fish out of water film. In fact I only liked one character in the movie, Fujimoto, a kind of undewater sorcerer. Ponyo herself is more interesting in her fish form, and the main character, a 5-year old boy name Sosuke’s only interesting characteristic is why he has half gray hair.
Then things like Sosuke calling his mother Lisa, which is not even a Japanese name, and referring to his father by his first name as well, just felt out of place.
The biggest flaw is that there is absolutely no story. TOTORO does not really have a story either, but the sense of wonder and completeness of the magical world makes that moot. No overt nature message other than a few throwaway lines by Fujimoto in the beginning as well.
(now I see on IMDB that “Lisa” was a mistranslation of her name in the subtitles, it’s actually Risa)
Then there is the climax, which does not tell us what is at stake, why Sosuke has to do what he does, nor why Ponyo seems to be in danger, or what she is in danger of. Just pointless.
The only reason to watch PONYO is for completeness if you are a Miyazaki fan, but one would not be faulted for not bothering and keeping this one from tarnishing Miyazaki’s legacy in one’s memory.
Other Miyazaki film reviews:
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I just finished watching Ponyo and I feel the same way. It was nice to watch but nothing special, nothing as good at anything made by Miyzaki in the past.
Even the sorcerer, he’s a character already “seen” in past productions…nothing new.
Kinda delusional, hype was way too bigger than what the movie actually is
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Jason Collin Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Thanks for the comment Jowah.
I was living in Japan still when Ponyo came out and there was a lot of hype there, but it definitely came off as more of a children’s movie in the promos I saw there. That’s why it has has taken me so long to getting around to see it.
Still, it is good to see some real 2-D animation every once in awhile, as other than Pixar, I cannot bring myself to watch and CGI animation at all.
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