A Technical Marvel, But I Didn't Feel It As Much As Others

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2003)

Spirited Away, as with all Mayazaki films, it simply gorgeous. The animation here is just superbly drawn and animated, and Miyazaki's eye for directing is as sharp as ever. The script was light, as it should be, and like all children's films it tries to instill some moral lessons in its viewers. These lessons are aimed at children, but are good for anyone to realize. Some of the dialogue was a bit too kiddie, but it's not noticable or really a bad thing depending on preference. The movie had a few scenes that are superfluous and stretch the movie thin. That was really my only major complaint with the film. Mononoke Hime is 20 minutes longer, but it never carries its weight as this film does. And as I addressed in my title, I simply didn't feel the magic as much as others. It's easy to be inspired by Mayazaki, and Princess Mononoke was a very magical film for me, but I just didn't connect with this movie the way most others did. Don't get me wrong, it's a very fun movie and a great way to spend time (along with being extremely well made), but it never really lifted me out this world. The magic was there for me, sure, but just not in the quantity it was for others.
7.5/10
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