PONYO Movie Review
I have enjoyed a lot of Hayao Miyazaki’s previous films, especially My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away (if you haven’t seen those yet, go rent them). I heard of Ponyo and was immediately interested in seeing what Miyazaki had came up with next.
Ponyo tells the story of a goldfish, Ponyo, who after meeting a little boy, Sosuke, decides that she wants to become human, against her father’s wishes. The story is very close to “The Little Mermaid,” except in this case, the two protagonists are children.
Unfortunately, the movie didn’t live up to my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad movie, I think it’s just targeted towards children too much for me to fully appreciate it. The conflict was also resolved too easily, that I just didn’t understand why there was so much fuss around it.
That said, there were a few things that I really enjoyed. For one, the goldfish were really adorable. But the really best thing from the movie, which I don’t think they used enough to promote the film was Ponyo’s father, Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson). Now that character was memorable for me, because he was so eccentric, but funny to watch. I actually wish there had been more scenes with him, and more exploration of his character.
Overall, I think that children will enjoy Ponyo, so I definitely recommend you take them to see. As for me, I am glad I saw it too, because although I didn’t love it as much as Miyazaki’s previous films, I still enjoyed myself.
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Title: Ponyo
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Noah Cyrus, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson
Synopsis: From the Academy Award®-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by NOAH CYRUS) and her quest to become human.
Release Date: August 14, 2009
Watch the Ponyo trailer.
