Quite Excellent...

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 2002)

I went to one of the first showings of Spirited Away today, and was completely blown away. The animation quality blew even artistic gems like Mononoke Hime far out of the water, with quite a few scenes that left me completely without breath in their complete awe-inspiring detail and beauty. The story is complex, well-developed, and easy to understand due to the pacing that brought the film to a whopping two hours and twenty minutes of running time.
The music was by the always-amazing Joe Hisaishi, who has been with Ghibli for all 13 of their films, and there was even some VERY well placed CG by America's own Studio, Dreamworks. The Dreamworks guys loved working with Miyazaki, they said, but they also noted that another partnership is not likely.
So here's my lowdown:
Music: 10/10. Freakin' incredibly done. Japan's 'New Philharmonic' was conducted by Joe Hisaishi, along with a few solo piano moments by Hisaishi himself to mix in an Audio masterpiece alone.
Animation: 10/10. Again. Perfect in every single minute detail. Miyazaki is one of the few Animators in the world who has never used a repeat frame, never had a lack of continuity, and never used a still cel. He continues this tradition and accents upon his true talent by HAND DRAWING many frames that excelled even the very few computer generated scenes in detail, depth, and beauty.
Story: 9/10: Fiercely original with a few twists of The Time Bandits crossed with Alice In Wonderland. The story is complex and amazing, but there are small bits where it may be a bit hard to follow. Sound: 7/10: The foley was done quite perfectly, making sure that every single movement, even the silly ones, was obviously coming how, where, and when it was supposed to. (another thing Disney can take a hint on.) The dubbing was quite good, but it was not great. It didn't get annoying though, so I only took off a few marks for it ^__^
Characterization: 10/10: It takes a true master to create a story without a villain. Enough said.
Overall: 46/50- This movie was nearly perfect. So perfect, as a matter of fact, that is was as good, in my opinion, as THIS film can get while being THIS film. See it now, or forever know that you missed seeing a masterpiece such as this on the big screen.