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(More customer reviews)Following in the footsteps of Howl's Moving Castle, Studio Ghibli has once again turned to the works of other literary writers as inspiration for yet another animated feature. This time around, they have gone to the world of Ursula K. Le Guin's Tales from Earthsea series, loosely adapted from the third and fourth installments of the Earthsea saga (The Farthest Shore and Tehanu, respectively). What is interesting is that the movie was helmed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki, and this is his directorial debut. Although far from great, this movie is still a good indication of hopefully even better works in the future from this director. Better known by the title Gedo Senki, the story revolves around a wise old wizard, a young prince with an accompanying dark side, and an evil witch who plans to use him for her own reasons.
The first thing you will notice upon watching is definitely the visuals. The details are very graphically striking and vivid. You will see everything from great-looking towns and markets to dank dungeons and castles to open seas and grassy meadows. There are quite a few beautiful overview and panning shots very reminiscent and much inspired by previous Ghibli films that fans will feel right at home. The only problem is with the washed out appearance and drab simplicity of the character designs, which clash and don't blend very well with the backgrounds and environments. This is vaguely awkward considering the amount of care that was put into the animation of the last few Ghibli features. But if there is one thing to complement this movie for, it would be the music. This is one of those rare cases in which the soundtrack, done by the legendary Tamiya Terashima, surpasses the movie itself. It may very well be of the one best yet heard in an animated movie this decade.
Unfortunately, not as many good things could be said for the actual story. There were times when the film's plot felt as though it was not developing properly enough as it progressed, nor was it unfolding very clearly to get a good idea of how to react to the events. The characters would find themselves in situations or engaging in pieces of dialogue that don't quite hold your interest very well either. Some scenes were too prolonged than what they should be while others end too quickly or abruptly without much reason or thought behind why. You want to be concerned about what is happening or what is going to happen next, but the movie often doesn't allow you to do so. This annoyingly erratic and unbalanced method of story-telling, along with the rather disappointing animation scheme, gives the entire movie a rushed and incomplete feeling that greatly hampers the enjoyable factor. Luckily, the story isn't so convoluted which makes it not too difficult to follow along. Also, there were a couple unforgettable moments in the film that make it worth seeing, including one scene which literally had me crying.
So do I recommend this film? I suppose it depends. I would probably break down the target audiences into three broad categories: those who are Studio Ghibli fans, those who are fans of the Earthsea series, and those who are not exactly familiar with either one but would just want to watch something worthwhile. In any case, that would still be a lot of viewers nonetheless. Being able to enjoy it stands on where exactly your expectations lie. It could disappoint Earthsea fans since this is only loosely based off the books. For me, this is the kind of film you would want to watch after seeing a streak of very good films and you don't really want something overly spectacular for a change. I can only hope that this review, despite the negative feedback I have given, will further spark and enhance your interest in seeing this movie so you can make up your own mind, instead of discouraging you to not see it at all. And hey, who knows. You may end up liking Tales from Earthsea more than I did. So just go ahead and see it!
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