Absolutely amazing

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2004)

As someone relatively new to the world of Japanese style anime it seemed a little odd to me. However, this did nothing to detract to the excellent quality of the story it is well written and I really found myself feeling for the characters involved. It manages to be funny, tender, exciting and a little frightening all at the same time which is no small feat for any film and it manages to come across even when watching it in the original Japanese with subtitles again something I've rarely experienced.
The soundtrack is excellent and gives a little something extra to the movie although it could work just as well with no music. The quality of the artwork is superb. A little disjointed at times and yes it does last maybe a little longer than strictly necessary. However, it's kept me riveted every time I've watched it and got me doing stupid things like seeing if I could hold my breath when Chihiro is crossing the bridge and I'm 17. The simplicity of the story is such that it can be enjoyed by children whilst it is also complex enough to keep their parents entertained. All in all a real family film and well deserving of the Oscar it won and, in my opinion, many more.