Ponyo

I watched this film the first time in theaters. It is the first film of Miyazaki's that I've seen on the big screen. Regrettably, it is also one of my least favorite films of Miyazaki. The main problem that I have with this film is that it seems like they're having a wedding for two little children. Also, Ponyo seems to be centered for young audiences, as you can tell from the young main characters and the "lack in plot." Unlike Totoro, which also contains young heroines, Ponyo did not have as much of a serious/mature tone to it. I must admit, I lost interest at some points and only began focusing on the animation of the film. This is not to say that it's a bad film, just not what you'd expect from a renown filmmaker like Miyazaki.

7.7

Kiki's Delivery Service (revisited)

Because I enjoyed Kiki's Delivery Service so much, I decided to expand on my previous post on my other blog site: http://mrwickedproductions.wordpress.com/

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is considered to be the remake of Miyazaki's earlier film, Nausicaa. I must say, it equally matches (and at some parts, surpasses) its predecessor. Although in both films, the characters learn to understand one another, Princess Mononoke's understanding leads to a bit more uncertainty. The ending of the film is definitly less of a joyful one as Princess Mononoke is not considered to be that much of a hero as Nausicaa is in her story.
Also, Princess Mononoke does not contain the same level of epicness as Nausicaa does, mainly because the latter is set in a post-apocalyptic world, while the former is set in a pre-industrialized world. Both films, however, contain enormous beings of destructable power.
This does not mean that Princess Mononoke is less of a film, or less entertaining than Nausicaa. On the contrary, I find Princess Mononoke to be a bit more enjoyable, mainly because of its contemporary style, fuller characters (Princess Mononoke shows more of her personality than Nausicaa does), and unsure ending. Nausicaa is much more similar to contemporary Hollywood cinema in that there is a legend, and the hero becomes the savior and everyone lives happily ever after. What's great about Princess Mononoke is that it follows anime/Miyazaki's style with a more floaty ending. It is difficult to side with any of the groups in conflict; they all have their faults. Therefore, in the end, instead of everyone winning, it's more like everyone going back to their own lives, trying to be more cautious of the other groups.
One of the main things that makes Princess Mononoke better than Nausicaa is that while Nausicaa is on the side of her people of the valley, Princess Mononoke is on the side of nature and the forrest. Nausicaa has less of a connection with the forrest and the insects (she is an outsider) compared to Princess Mononoke, who practically was raised by the wolves and grew up in the forrest. The different angle which the main character comes from strengthens the equality of the triangle conflict. Therefore, nature has a much more stronger siding in Princess Mononoke.
Animation, music, and story of this film makes it a must see out of Miyazaki's works.

9.0