Great animation, beautiful music, uninvolving story.

Rating: 6/10 (10 June 2007)

Spirited Away has all the elements of a great film but one. It doesn't seem to know what it's really about; there is no apparent focus or purpose. Clearly Chihiro is the main character in the movie (unless you count the world she discovers as a character or something like that) and yet her emotions and thoughts are given little attention. Most of the time she simply appears to be mildly confused. Although I could relate to her, I couldn't relate to her reaction to the world she finds herself in.
I liked the idea of Chihiro adapting to her situation and becoming stronger in the process but she never seems to become critical of how illogical her new world is. Characters appear to randomly alternate between mean and nice, wise and stupid, important and insignificant. This would be okay if Chihiro's character was explored more deeply, but it isn't. The lack of Chihiro's development would be okay if the world was more meaningful but it isn't. This is just my opinion of course, perhaps I'm missing the point of the movie completely. This makes it very difficult to criticise - it just doesn't work but for a plethora of reasons.
On the plus side, the score by Joe Hisaishi is magnificent, the animation is superb, and the film has some redeeming moments towards the end. I can't help but wonder what a fantastic film it might have been. I think a comparison with Alice in Wonderland would help me pinpoint my problem with it. The stories are very similar and where I found Spirited Away frustrating, Alice in Wonderland is entertaining and even thought provoking. Although Alice's world is very odd, it is also quite funny. Chihiro's world is too mean and serious to be funny. In fact, maybe that simple distinction summarises why I don't adore Spirited Away. I don't know. Another significant difference is that Alice actually gets frustrated and appreciates how ridiculous her world is at times.
In summary, if you take Alice out of Alice in Wonderland you get a silly pointless movie. If you take Chihiro out of Spirited Away, it makes little difference because of her lack of presence (excepting some later parts) and you get a silly pointless movie. So Spirited Away is too close to being a silly movie when it could have been enchanting and entertaining.