Spirited Away

IMDb’s #47 film is probably Miyazaki’s most famous.  For those unfamiliar with Hayao Miyazaki, it may be easiest to think of him as Japan’s Walt Disney.  He has created nearly every classic animated to film that comes from Japan.  If you’ve seen one of his movies in English, it’s because Disney paid a lot of money in order to buy the rights.

Be forewarned, the movie has subtitles — unless, of course, you speak Japanese.  Then you can turn them off.  However, if you don’t like to watch movies with subtitles, the Disney version has been dubbed.  And do you honestly think Disney paid all that money for the rights and then ruined it with their voices?  No.  They paid good money for good voice acting.

I will say right now that we watched the film in Japanese with subtitles because we felt that taking the film out of it’s native language and removing the original voice actors would change the film too much.  But I have it from a good source (OK, my roommate Michael who also loves movies) that the voice acting in the dubbed version is superb.

The script is great — with some reservations.  The dialogue is genuine and creative.  The plot moves quickly, but not too quickly, and the viewer will never be bored.  However, the film is — for lack of a better word — trippy.  If you tried to explain the plot to someone, they would look at you like you were insane and figure that you’re either imagining things or that the film is terrible.  Don’t be fooled.  It makes sense if you watch it and keep an open mind.

The acting is solid, but nothing to write home about.  To be fair though, I don’t understand the intricacies of the Japanese language, so the voice acting could have been horrendous or awesome and I wouldn’t have known.  Chihiko displays the appropriate amount of intensity in her voice throughout the movie and that’s about all I can judge.  It won’t ruin the movie for you; It certainly didn’t for me.

The cinematography and directing stood out to me as I watched the movie, which is impressive in an animated film.  The angles were never boring and nearly always fresh.  Miyazaki takes mundane frames and turns them into art.

This soundtrack was also exceptional, but in a completely different way from The Fellowship of the Ring.  Where Fellowship exhibited epic orchestral music that fit moments in the movie, Spirited Away boasts lighter tunes that fit each individual action of the characters throughout the film.

We decided to interpret Special Effects as the style of animation, which was serviceable but not particularly special.  It was aesthetically pleasing without being revolutionary or edgy.

This movie is an absolute blast for all ages.  For parents, it’s fantastic  in the same way that Lion King or Beauty and the Beast were fantastic.  Children will be enthralled by the characters, fantasy world, and imaginative creatures, while adults will appreciate the deeper elements of the plot.

Author	Script	Acting	Cinematography	Soundtrack	Directing	Special Effects	Overall
Ben	8	8	9	10	10	8	8.833
Marc	7	9	10	10	9	8	8.833
Jon	7	7	8	7	7	7	7.167