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Yes, what you have heard about this film is probably true in some sense, but it's also wildly false and illogical in another sense. Within animation, this is a top flight film for me personally. If you asked me if I'd rather torture myself through Ponyo or watch a flawed gem, I'd take the gem any day of the week. That gem is this film.
While Le Guin may not have loved the film, she did say it was a good film, just not the one she expected or wanted. Of course what she wanted was this grand 3 or 4 hour tour de force with Miyazaki at the helm. The problem being he was busy, and the idea that this was even possible was always ridiculous.
You simply cannot condense Earthsea into any meaningful exposition of two hours. It's not going to happen, and it's not possible.
The fact that father and son were in a bit of a spat at Ghibli did not help the preconceived notions that were born from Goro directing for the first time while his father did something else.
Going in with a logical frame of mind, in realizing this was going to be vastly different, I find the film to be quite amazing really. It's a lovely piece of animation, and the acting on the dub is considerable and effective.
The villains are extremely well done. Dafoe has an understated and completely immersive performance as Cob. The set of heroes are all convincing as well, and I found almost no annoyances with the crew itself.
The problematic structure was always going to bite the film, and fans of the books of course were ridiculous in confirming their biases, Ursula included. She very much wanted the master to direct her film. She got the son. She very much wanted it to be exactly like her own world in her head and on page, forgetting that this was a Japanese film made very much so for Japanese people first and foremost. In effect, when you take off the strangling hands of the media and the bias, you are left with a superb film that probably should have added 20m to the beginning to give it a bit more backstory and introduction.
As it is the tale here is told well, but it does not quite seal the deal on the world or the happenings it presented in the first few moments. Things remain open-ended on a variety of the novels' ideas and structural theories. You won't be getting those answers. SO RELAX. It's not the perfect film, but it is a fine film in itself.
Characters have been cut, shortened, changed, et cetera. What you are left with is a fairly simple tale of revenge, love, and life. The animation is breathtaking in places. For what some people have said was a rushed production, you really don't notice it much. Some of the sequences are absolutely stunning, reflecting a nice variety of lifestyles, emotions, and tones that delicately present to you the aesthetic and creativity on display in the Earthsea universe.
Again, I give this five stars not because it is perfect, but because it was so undervalued and overblown as a bad film, when in reality it's not even close to a bad film. How is this a bad film when Frozen 2 is a good film? This isn't right, and it can't be right ever. The acting in this dub is absolutely on par with Ghibli's best. Ged/Sparrowhawk and Arren are wonderful leads, and the ladies in Therru and Tenar present themselves with realism and rational behavior. This is all massively balanced by Dafoe as the creepy as hell Cob, and his lead henchman in Cheech Marin's Hare. The forces of good and evil show themselves and completely do what they are supposed to do, which is create a lively atmosphere with characters you care about. The only problem is they probably needed another 50m to properly expand their stories. And that just was not possible.
So what led to the middling reviews then? I make this sound like a masterpiece. Well, for one it's the outrageous expectations of a major studio in their prime and one of the most influential fantasy works coming together. If people wanted perfection, they should have put up the cash to support a 4 hour anime. They didn't. So this is what you get. A folded down and recreated artistic statement on the novels from Japan. It's beautiful quite honestly, and that is all that matters here when you also combine this with the stellar acting. I don't need anything else personally.
I tend to agree that Arren probably needed a bit more exposition, but Ghibli chose to start the film as more of a mystery, and they only loosely refer to some of the major incidents and ideas from the books. But it works quite well if you just take a step back to realize this is not a film trying to tell the whole cycle.
The bluray by GKids is of course amazing. I at least hope Le Guin managed to watch this again in high-definition where the animation absolutely shines. The bitrate is high, and the bluray is nearly flawless. Impeccable work from GKids. Not too many extras sadly, but there are a few bits to parse through.
Altogether forget any expectations you have here, and just watch the film as the singular tale it wants to tell you. I can't imagine anyone being too disappointed.
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From the manufacturer
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ArrenA troubled young prince with an all-consuming rage in his heart. |
SparrowhawkKnown as the Archmage, Sparrowhawk is a powerful wizard who seeks answers to the cause for the collapse of the world’s balance. |
TherruNaturally wary and tough, Therru will stop at nothing to protect those that she cares about. |
Top reviews from other countries
Ulises Olguin Soto
La compre por tener todas las de ghibli
Reviewed in Mexico on September 11, 2019