PONYO (DUB) Review
Unquestionable talent can, at its apex, overcome any noticeable flaws surrounding it. In the case of Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO, a lushly animated fable about a fish princess falling head over fins for a human boy, the talent of Miyazaki’s deft hand at animation is so powerful and immense, that even as the film itself has a few noticeable clunks, the end result is something as magical as the beings within it.
From the very first reel, PONYO establishes itself as a movie full of wonder and out-there ideas. A talented animator no doubt, another skill Miyazaki presents is a truly imaginative mind demonstrated in a largely dialogue-free intro that sees the mysterious Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), a tall, well dressed and well groomed man, standing on the bow of a submarine as it glides underwater, head encased in a bubble as he gracefully creates the sea dwellers of the ocean he floats through. Whales, lobsters, fish and more are created with an unknowable magic but Miyazaki, in a sly fashion, quickly focuses on the main focus of this story: the jellyfish like Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), who, while watching her father Fujimoto create his symphony of sea creatures, ventures off out of his view and towards the surface, human world. There, she meets Sosuke (Frankie Jones), a little boy who lives in the coastal town that Ponyo washes up onto and of course, in Miyazaki’s penchant for fairy tales, sets up the story of a the little washed up fish falling in love with the young boy who saves her and the ways their relationship quite literally turned the world upside down.
But even as Miyazaki and his team of animators throw out impressive images of massive waves flooding towns (while Ponyo herself runs on the waves giddily) or a sea goddess (played by Cate Blanchett) rising high from below the seas, the filmmaker retains a grounded energy to the film, letting its timeless and human themes of love and acceptance flow subtly. PONYO is grand yet grounded, offering up a tour de force in 2D animation that breathes with with imaginative life that is offset by a story that leisurely strolls to its happy ending. Despite a rather simple fish out of water story, Miyazaki for better or worse, offers a complex world that simply exists, with no rhyme or reason as to how anything works, not that the characters (even the human ones) care much as they approach each new misadventure with either a shrug (in the case of Sosuke’s mother, played by a fleeting Tina Fey) or childish acceptance (in the case of, of course, Ponyo and Sosuke). Indeed, outside of the two energetically infectious performances of the young Mr. Jones and Ms. Cyrus, who really just dig into to the fun of their characters, the other performances from the remaining adults is comparatively laid back — except maybe Neeson, who, playing the aforementioned sea-scientist, has his humorous moments of exasperated concern for his AWOL fish-daughter.
While its certainly refreshing to find a film with such out-there ideas and images approach things with a chill mood, there are parts of PONYO that subsequently become a tad boring. In those moments, despite the beautiful images of sea towns and magical sea goddesses, PONYO can feel like being at a beautiful beach where you just sit and veg out in a chair rather than actually getting involved with anything there. But man, what a beautiful beach this movie is! It benefits to have a skilled animator like Miyazaki and his team handling the art sticks, creating lush backgrounds that vibrate with striking colors, offering a work where any frame could be paused just to appreciate the meticulous yet soft details found in the animation. For any Miyazaki animated film, the quality of the visual work, despite its sometimes lesser surroundings (and honestly, comparing any other aspect of this film to the art and animation is a losing battle) makes this a timeless watch, with animation that would look strikingly good in any era.
4/5
