His Dark Media › Opinion › Reviews › Ponyo (on the Cliff by the Sea)

Review published by ArcT on 16th February. 0 Comments.

After the success of films such as Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro, a lot is riding on Ponyo, Studio Ghibli's latest exploration of the Western market with Disney as distributor. First impressions? Typical Ghibli; the naturalism and spirituality of previous films is back, but with rather more restraint than usual. The English dubbing, most notably starring Liam Neeson, Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett, is the perfect accompaniment to the lavish artistry of the visuals.

There's one word to use when describing director Hayao Miyazaki's fantastical worlds: beautiful. The backdrops to the animation are frankly gorgeous. Better than Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks, and better than them all put together. Every Ghibli film is gorgeous to watch, and Ponyo is no different. Throughout the film, we're treated to two distinct worlds that both have a great deal in common. The surface world where protagonsist Sōsuke lives is naturally beautiful countryside surrounding a picturesque harbour-town. There's the impression that the surface world is a little over-exposed, with some of the colour being washed out a little in the first half of the film, but the sea from which Ponyo escapes is colourfully deep and engaging.

It's not all roses, though. As ever, the character animation is lacklustre and with the exception of Fujimoto and Granmammare (Ponyo's father and mother respectively), don't expect to see many more than five distinct colours on one person. Ponyo herself is two pinks for her skin tone, white petticoat, red coat and red hair. Nothing more, unless she talks, where she's given another two shades of red at most for her mouth. And it's such a crying shame, when the backdrops are so breathtaking in scale and detail.

This has always been one of the nails in traditional animation's coffin, however; computer animation is easy enough when all the calculation has been put into the computer and rendering has begun. But even though Ponyo is all hand-drawn, it still seems as if the animation department saved a little too much time and money when just a few hours more on each character could have made a world of difference. Though, just to confuse you even further, I didn't particularly mind. It was refreshing to see characters interacting with each other like they used to. It was all very impressive watching Kung Fu Panda's fur rustle in the breeze, for instance, but maybe that's missing the point of the artistry.

Plot-wise, we're back on standard Miyazaki. A normal person is put in an extraordinary situation by a chance meeting with a magical creature, and sets off on a whirlwind adventure that leads them into a more pantheistic way of looking at the world, and, as is often the case, bringing the world back into balance. We saw it in Howl's Moving Castle, and we saw it in Totoro, but the repetition doesn't make the story any less engaging. The voice acting is supreme, bringing a reality to the characters that's quite rare in animation nowadays and the obvious care that has been taken over the film helps to overlook some of the simplicity of the animation.

Don't expect to be entertained throughout the entire film; however. In the bridge between the beginning of the adventure and the climax, the film begins to drag a little, and while Sōsuke's constant fear that Ponyo has died when sleeping or refusing to react to him is sweet at first, it gets a little old a little quick. Especially as he does it twice in the space of a minute and a half. What's more, if you're looking for a plot that hasn't been done before, you should certainly look elsewhere; this one's as old as the hills and has elements reminiscent of Avatar, which has certainly been done before.

All in all, Ponyo is a very good children's film. As long as you're willing to let it take you back to childhood (or even if you are a child still!) it's highly entertaining and great fun. The message, while cliched, is given to us with Miyazaki's characteristic charm and there are many moments where you feel that the film is somehow familiar. Expect to be blown away by the beautiful settings, but don't look for a film that's going to make you think too hard about the message. As with what seems all of Ghibli's films, the look, feel and style of the film is the highlight.

This is where you come in. What did you guys think of the film? The comment box is right down there waiting for you!

Return to the top of the page, the archive, or the frontpage.