It's hard to judge this animation knowing that it's made by people who were previously working at Studio Ghibli whose work is greatly inspiring and lovable. They formed a new team under the name Studio Ponoc. The movie is trying to keep the beautiful magic of its predecessors but fails to develop its characters that throughout the movie keep explaining things but don't tell that much about themselves. The animation is great as well as attention to detail, but somehow it felt flat, incomplete and rushed.
What makes it feel that way was, for example, the introduction to the Endor College, where the protagonist - a clumsy girl and accidental witch - only spent a day there. The scenes were beautiful and you could expect that you will see more of it, but the story kept moving to other parts and left you hanging with questions rather than answers.
What about characters - they felt flat and at times confusing. The kind-looking, but somewhat unpleasant gardener that looks like he's dead inside, or the mouse-fox-hybrid-robin-hood, as well as others, felt flat. I actually didn't relate to any character in the movie and didn't feel anything but confusion. The problem was actually in a lot of things: the problem of those characters wasn't in their "behavior", rather it was the relationship between them and the protagonist (the way they communicated and acted in response to each other's questions/answers) - no emotions that would make us feel something, and no musical support. Some things felt cliché, some things made you find plot holes.
I don't find it easy to tell what makes Ghibli's characters and the world so nice but it surely isn't just their visuals - rather the way they introduce to the characters and general attention to details: there's a lot of magic, but there's also a regular life of characters who play their role well and whose actions make sense and at the same time add up to the plot and general atmosphere.
I think it might not be fair to compare this movie with the works of Studio Ghibli or expect that it's going to be as great. But we as Ghibli fans were waiting for the same amazing experience that we got from Miyazaki's works and from the beginning we would have higher expectations, that on the outcome played badly on our reception.
I feel that for those who are not familiar with the works of Studio Ghibli might find this movie interesting and entertaining, especially kids. Of course, kids won't question things, but I think they might also feel that something's missing. I felt that way when I was a kid watching some cartoons. It's still a good animation to watch.
Overall, that's relatively a not bad start for Studio Ponoc as their first animation feature and I am waiting for their future works, hoping they are going to be at least slightly better. And I wish they knew that animation of Studio Ghibli is great, yes, but we won't like other animations that copy their style just in sake of looking alike. Plot still matters. Director's work still matters. Music still matters. And everything else also matters. First, find a story to tell and don't rush. Then tell.
6/10
What makes it feel that way was, for example, the introduction to the Endor College, where the protagonist - a clumsy girl and accidental witch - only spent a day there. The scenes were beautiful and you could expect that you will see more of it, but the story kept moving to other parts and left you hanging with questions rather than answers.
What about characters - they felt flat and at times confusing. The kind-looking, but somewhat unpleasant gardener that looks like he's dead inside, or the mouse-fox-hybrid-robin-hood, as well as others, felt flat. I actually didn't relate to any character in the movie and didn't feel anything but confusion. The problem was actually in a lot of things: the problem of those characters wasn't in their "behavior", rather it was the relationship between them and the protagonist (the way they communicated and acted in response to each other's questions/answers) - no emotions that would make us feel something, and no musical support. Some things felt cliché, some things made you find plot holes.
I don't find it easy to tell what makes Ghibli's characters and the world so nice but it surely isn't just their visuals - rather the way they introduce to the characters and general attention to details: there's a lot of magic, but there's also a regular life of characters who play their role well and whose actions make sense and at the same time add up to the plot and general atmosphere.
I think it might not be fair to compare this movie with the works of Studio Ghibli or expect that it's going to be as great. But we as Ghibli fans were waiting for the same amazing experience that we got from Miyazaki's works and from the beginning we would have higher expectations, that on the outcome played badly on our reception.
I feel that for those who are not familiar with the works of Studio Ghibli might find this movie interesting and entertaining, especially kids. Of course, kids won't question things, but I think they might also feel that something's missing. I felt that way when I was a kid watching some cartoons. It's still a good animation to watch.
Overall, that's relatively a not bad start for Studio Ponoc as their first animation feature and I am waiting for their future works, hoping they are going to be at least slightly better. And I wish they knew that animation of Studio Ghibli is great, yes, but we won't like other animations that copy their style just in sake of looking alike. Plot still matters. Director's work still matters. Music still matters. And everything else also matters. First, find a story to tell and don't rush. Then tell.
6/10