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| Tookey's Review |
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| Mixed Reviews |
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| Trailer |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2009 |
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| Genre: |
ADVENTURE
FANTASY
CARTOON
OVERRATED
FAMILY
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| Origin: |
Japan/ US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
101 |
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Great visuals, shame about the script.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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Veteran Japanese cartoonist Hayao Miyazaki is a favourite with critics, mainly because of his unique visual flair. If you want to see him on top form, try his Oscar-winning cartoon Spirited Away.
Ponyo is his version of The Little Mermaid and shows some of the old master’s strengths – in particular, his use of colour, hallucinatory visuals and unbridled imagination.
Unfortunately, it also suffers from his all too familiar weaknesses: a fragmentary, unstructured plot with rules that seem to be made up as it goes along, a confused, ecological message and dialogue so simple that it verges on banality.
There is much mumbo-jumbo about the need to keep nature in balance, but not much clue as to how exactly this connects with the love of two five year-olds from different species, or why the future of the world should depend on their friendship.
Even though Ponyo contains images so haunting that it’s hard to dismiss altogether, this is one of Miyazaki’s feeblest efforts.
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