Beautifully animated... Worth a look!...

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2012)

One thing I cannot get over is the beautiful clarity of the animation. Studio Ghibli has a very particular style and I must admit to being a great fan of the way their films look; at times they can be quite breathtaking. I also love the imagination of the people that designed things like the Castle, it's quite fantastic. Putting aside the visuals for a moment, I have to say that, sadly, I did find this one a little too long at nearly two hours. Although I did find the story quite enthralling at times, there wasn't quite enough (for me) to enthral me for quite that long. Having said that it's still an excellent piece of work and one I have no problem in deeming Recommended.
My score: 7.1/10.
IMDb Score: 8.1/10 (based on 73,040 votes at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 86/100 (based on 147 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 93/100 (based on 220,543 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.