Not so much Alice in Wonderland as Time Bandits

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2002)

I really can't convey how much I love this movie. So rather than attempt to do that, I'm just going to express the ways in which I disagree with other reviews.
First of all, although I thought the dub was acceptable, I didn't find it particularly good. In fact, there is really only one actor that I can say I actually liked, that being Susan Egan as Lin. I've known people like her character, and they all sounded somewhat like her. The way she conveyed the transitions really made me appreciate the depth of her character. Egan has range, something I wish I could say for Jason Marsden, as Haku, who appears only able to convey two vocal inflections, both belonging to a single emotion. Haku is supposed to be somewhat serious and grim, but not unrealistically so. Even when the character's supposed to be cheerful and/or helpful, he's still got that "grim" vocal pattern. Miyu Irino (the Japanese actor) had ten thousand times the range of this TV commercial narrator. The only time you hear his intonation rise is when he's asking a question. Daveigh Chase seemed to have a similar affliction, but for some reason I wasn't particularly bothered by it. The voice was right for the character, so I didn't mind. Other actors were decent, but otherwise not outstanding.
On a different note, am I the only one who doesn't quite feel comfortable with this "Alice in Wonderland" analogy that people keep bringing up? I mean, sure, they both involve a child going into another world, and both are fairly unpredictable, but I feel Spirited Away has a depth of character and sentimentality to it that Alice lacks. Not that I don't like Alice, quite the contrary, some of my best times were spent reading it. However, I believe Spirited Away bears more resemblance to Terry Gilliam's film, "Time Bandits." There's a sort of whimsical feeling that everybody knows what's going on but the main character, and vicariously, the audience. The way the plot moves is much more contiguous than Alice, as well, the feel being more introspective. In Alice, the audience isn't given much time alone with the character, so the viewer doesn't quite feel the same depth of bond. In addition, Alice just doesn't have the same kind of feeling of genuine good and evil that SA and Time Bandits have. In Alice, everything feels like one big cruel joke, and it's easy to dismiss it as one. But as much as SA may seem like a joke from time to time, both the main character and the viewer are reminded from time to time that this is not a dream; Chihiro's perils are bizarre, but very real, and that adds a sort of macabre feeling to the entire movie. It's a subtle distinction, but it's there.
All in all, this is quickly rising on my list of favorite films of all time. I agree fully with the movie's marketing line, "for everyone who is, has ever been, or ever will be 11 years old." Go see this movie, subtitled or dubbed. Unless you're like that one guy who thought it wasn't coherent enough, you'll love it.