My brief review of the film

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2005)

Hayao Miyazaki's screenplay here is just excellent. The story is imaginative and at times quite moving, plus there are many funny moments to be had along the way. The characters are however overly silly and only ever lightly developed, but everything else about the script works so well that it easy to forgive its shortcomings. The music is rather charming and the animation itself is great too. Some of the violence does not quite work, but there are so many other scenes that simply radiate with beauty. The running time of over two hours is a bit lengthy, but watching it is by all means time well spent. If not quite the masterpiece that 'Spirited Away' is, this one comes pretty close.