Ponyo

Rating

Director

Hayao Miyazaki

Screenplay

Hayao Miyazaki

Length

103 min.

Starring

Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Kurt Knutsson, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Jennessa Rose, Lily Tomlin, Betty White

MPAA Rating

G

Review

New Hayao Miyazaki animated features are rare and oftentimes difficult to find at a local theater. Like Stanley Kubrick, Miyazaki takes his time with his films releasing them when they are ready. And similarly, such practices generally make for a perfect or near-perfect film. Ponyo, Miyazaki’s latest creation is unfortunately not even close to his greatest works.

The story, borrowing conceptually from the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale The Little Mermaid, follows a young sea creature named Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), whose mother (Cate Blanchett) is away and whose father (Liam Neeson) treats her like a captive as the only way he knows to protect her from the dangers of the ocean, including fishing and pollution. She decides she can take no more of her father’s stricture and embracing a sense of adventure and curiosity, escapes to land where she encounters a human boy Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) who thinks of her mostly as a pet.

After experiencing the joys of human life, Ponyo rebels against her father after he recaptures her, creating a great storm and flood in the process pushing Sosuke on a quest to save his mother who has gone to secure the residents at the retirement home where she works.

Translated into English and dubbed for American audiences, Miyazaki’s films draw big name talent to give life to his creations. Ponyo is no difference sporting young musician children Cyrus and Jonas along with noteworthy adults Blanchett and Neeson; plus Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin and Betty White. They all provide excellent characterizations, which is one of the few reliable elements in Miyazaki’s features.

What’s not so reliable this time is the suspension of disbelief. As with Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, the audience must accept these fantastical worlds filled Japanese spiritual symbolism and other elements that Western audiences might have a hard time understanding. With Ponyo, it’s hard to accept many of their precepts when the concept of love is relegated to the imaginations and hearts of pre-pubescent children.

Had Sosuke and Ponyo even been in their teens, the film’s denouement might have felt more plausible or at least acceptable. But, these conceits do not work well when put in the hands of children who have very little experience in the realm of true love and barely grasp a sense of life-long friendship. Maybe Miyazaki hopes that by placing such a strong emotional concept as love in the accepting hands of children that perhaps adults will see a deeper meaning, but it ends up feeling entirely implausible and non-exemplary.

The visuals in the film feature many of Miyazaki’s anime styles seen in his past films, but sometimes the sense of wonder he has given to scenes such as the bus stop in My Neighbor Totoro or the train ride in Spirited Away is completely absent from Ponyo. While the scene with Ponyo’s mother is a richly styled and designed affair, it was only one of a scant few in the film making it feel less exciting and energetic.

While Miyazaki is a fan of filling children’s entertainment with adult themes and pushing his movies as all-ages entertainment, Ponyo succeeds mostly in appealing to children and perhaps some small segments of the childlike spirit in adults, but the high-minded themes his fans are used to don’t seem to be nearly as dedicated or prevalent in this outing.

Review Written

November 10, 2009