User Reviews

Seeing The Boy and The Heron, Hayao Miyazaki's latest movie feels almost like a monumental event in and of itself. It was announced almost as a surprise with the words "Hayao Miyazaki's last movie". With this amount of hype, including the amazing reviews it's got from critics, my hype was built up to the max. The end result? Not what I expected, and that's ok!

Let's get to the positives, the animation is STUNNING. The way Hayao Miyazaki manages to build these worlds and characters is just an amazing feat, they all come alive with the colours and the movement. Another positive is the tone of the movie, I really hate Disney for trying to market this as a kid's movie, when it's not. It's got some unnerving and scary moments and themes that are not suited for kids, which is good. Hayao Miyazaki is at his best when he manages to blend the adult with the fantastical.

The actors are always amazing, I saw the Japanese dub so I don't know how the western VAs are doing but wow; they all do a fantastic job!

Now to the negatives... a huge thing about Studio Ghibli movies in general, especially the ones from Hayao Miyazaki, is that they're always by rule driven by the characters, it's their journey that's in the front. World building and narrative always takes a second place in his movies to be able to not distract from the characters journeys, big examples of this are Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle where the world building is built by very simple and effective means and rules. But here in the Boy and The Heron the world building is so convoluted and confusing it almost feels like he wanted it to take center stage in this movie and it's such a shame because it feels at like it's at odds with it's own main character who supposedly undergoes a deep deep emotional journey but it all finishes off in a very abrupt and unfitting send-off in the end which really confused me and just didn't feel like a good payoff.

Also the way this movie introduces characters left and right with no rhyme or reason is super confusing. Once again, Hayao Miyazaki did this very minimally in his past movies where the characters get room to be explored and to leave an impact in the story but here once again it's at odds with its own world building- it all feels very haphazard and messy. The Heron is a fun character but I don't feel like he or Mahito do or learn anything from these adventures.

Now, it may sound like I hated this movie, but I didn't. It's just that I care so much about Hayao Miyazaki movies and Studio Ghibli movies that I can't help to compare them to the movies we've seen before. And despite it not being Hayao Miyazaki's best it's still pretty good, it's very much worth a watch.

The imagery that completely stuck with me is when things overwhelm Mahito. From the frogs, to the pelicans, the warawara, the fish guts, and the parakeets. And Mahito's reaction is not even fight or flight. He stays still as if frozen and completely unable to react.

And that's maybe why it was important for Mahito to know that forgetting is normal. His feeling of loss and grief and the feeling of having to adjust to changes in his environment may be overwhelming and maybe a solution is trying to forget.

The granduncle is Miyazaki himself. He tries to find someone who can continue his legacy but in the end completely accepts that the worlds that he built and the stories he has told may crumble and completely be forgotten. And that is one truth that an artist will find hard to take.

If you have never watched a Hayao Miyazaki film, I wouldn't recommend starting with The Boy and the Heron.

For an introduction I'd recommend to start with Spirited Away (2001) and Princess Mononoke (1997).

If you become amused and the films resonate with you. Then you will enjoy The Boy and Heron. It isn't the strongest of Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli films but a very good addition to their filmography.

The film begins with a slow pace of mostly visually defining the world, characters and their dilemmas. As the movie progresses you see touches of another realm. Before you know it, it becomes a full-blown feverish dream of Hayao Miyazaki imagination and story telling. It eventually comes all together back on its feet at the end.

Was it fun and visually pleasing? Yes.

Was I confused at times And had a lot of unanswered question? Also yes.

I have been recently getting into Studio Ghibli films and I've been impressed. I was highly looking forward to this movie strictly because it was the first time I got the opportunity to see a Miyazaki film on the big screen. And the English dub is studded with talent.

I must say... I feel let down. I almost fell asleep halfway through, and the ending didn't make sense. There was so much happening and things weren't explained. I understand that there was probably deep symbolism attached to certain writing choices, but what's the point if the viewer has no idea what they're trying to say?

There were some good scenes and some good humor, but overall I feel a little empty.

Absolute magical, most likely last movie, made by Miyazaki Hayao. To give you an idea as to what you can expect from this movie, it has a similar feel of "Alice in Wonderland" but imbuded with the Ghibli magic you're familiar with. It includes elements of many of the other Ghibli movies "Princess Mononoke", "Pompoko", and "My neighbor Totoro" but adds something new that's never been made before by Hayao. To understand the full scope of it, you'd have to watch it a second time; to fully appreciate why the world is set up as it is and why the characters are the way they are.

I can't wait for the English release and the internationalization. Even though no promotional footage or trailers have been shown, I recommend this movie to anybody looking for something magical and mystical.

I've probably started a review of a Hayao Miyazaki film stating it's his final film before, but "The Boy and the Heron", for more reasons than one, certainly feels like the final cut. Now aged eighty-two with an ever-increasing gap between films, it would sadly appear unlikely another feature will be made. "The Boy and the Heron" would show that Miyazaki now also knows the gig is up, feeling like a culmination of a life's work, looking backwards rather than forwards.

Mahito's (Soma Santoki) mother is killed in a Tokyo fire, and so later goes to live in the countryside with his father and stepmother (also his aunt). His father the owner of an aeronautics factory, he has a large plot to explore, finding a mysterious old building. But he also finds himself stalked by a grey heron (Masaki Suda) who appears to mean him harm.

But with his stepmother Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura) going missing, he confronts the heron and the pair go looking for her, finding themselves at the mysterious building of unknown origin. This takes them into worlds within worlds, as they are helped and hindered along the way by various people and creatures.

There's a lot going on here, and, it's fair to say, too much. There are some good moments, but this is a film that gets a little lost within itself as it tries to squeeze in too much into its two hours. While there are similarities in all of his films, each has its own unique charm. "The Boy and the Heron", however, feels more like a greatest hits parade, with many moments reminiscent of what has come before. You can probably go through the whole film and equate moments to earlier works every step of the way.

Whether intentional or not, this can show both a filmmaker struggling for original ideas, but also a messy and convoluted storyline that can become difficult to follow and disengaging. Miyazaki films can almost be made by their moments for reflection, but here you barely feel able to breath as we race into another world of new characters. The result is a film that has some of the confusion and struggles of some of Ghibli's - not just Miyazaki's - lesser works, such as "The Cat Returns" (2002) and "Tales from Earthsea" (2006).

A problem for Miyazaki is that you are judging his films by such high standards, in a career that has never really declined, just become sparse. This is good, but it is by no means great; probably most reminiscent of "How's Moving Castle" (2005) in that it tries to open too many doors. Miyazaki is at his best when he keeps things simple, but feels like he's trying to push the magic and wonder here, rather than let it out naturally.

Comedy is perhaps the strength of the film, with more outright laughs than I can remember from Miyazaki before. To start, the elderly maids of the country house, while familiar in design, have the mannerisms of excited children, hungry for treats from the big city. Though Suda as the heron is the standout, starting as a squawking threat, but becoming the buddy sidekick and a constant source of humour, as one of Miyazaki's most comical characters.

As ever, Joe Hisaishi delivers a memorable soundtrack, with a sparse and simple piano a reminder that Ghibli is at its best when uncomplicated. And simplicity is the word for the somewhat abrupt ending. In a film that has so much going on, the coda is almost notable in its inactivity, and feels like a fitting way to end. A career that has brought so much, should say a quick goodbye and leave us with good memories.

Politic1983.home.blog.

This is one of the good ones. However it reflects as much the passion and skill of Hayao Miyazaki as his old age confusion. His latest "last movie" starts one way and ends (abruptly) another. It has elements from his own life, his previous work and some new ideas, but the gist of the film is reconciling with loss and moving forward, recognizing there isn't much one can do. A very old man mentality in a movie about a child entering a magical world filled with wonder and dream logic.

The animation was so beautiful, the story a bit disjointed, but quite captivating. It was the ending that kind of disappointed. This film has been a long time in the making (in 2019 it was 15% complete, allegedly, with Miyazaki directing a minute of the film a month) and it shows.

The Japanese title is "How do you live?", the same as the Genzaburo Yoshino's instructional coming-of-age novel that Miyazaki's mother gifted him. In the film, the boy finds the book with a message from his dead mother, instructing him to read it, but it never goes anywhere. There are a lot of other hints and symbols that are quite opaque to non-Japanese, so I felt that I've missed chunks of what the movie was supposed to convey.

Perhaps the most interesting quality of the film is how easily it can be interpreted multiple ways, the ambiguity both confusing and thought provoking. As we experience dream and child logic we get a glimpse of the transmuted reality underneath. The grief, the loss, the benevolent yet oppressive culture, the futility and pain of war, the missing and missed parenting and so on.

Bottom line: is it a masterpiece or a slice of Miyazaki, jumbled beyond recognition? Both. I felt it might be a fitting farewell film, but also that I missed so many meanings from it. I liked it.

Not his best, but a very solid fairy tale from the master with lots of his trademark elements like stoic characters, spirit worlds, flying scenes and characters running through narrow passages.

It is stylistically comparable to Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle, although a bit less epic in scope. Like those films it inhibits a certain darkness and maturity at times with a war as a backdrop, that is not really aimed at children. I personally liked it and wished that more filmmakers in animation would have similar aspirations, but I guess those who do are expelled to do short movies. But back to Miyazaki's movie: it is bursting with lots of ideas, symbolism and fairy tale motifs like Snow White (with a dead mother, seven dwarfettes and a glass coffin with a sleeping beauty). At other times the character dynamics invoke Jim Henson's Labyrinth, where the protagonist has to rescue a kidnapped loved one and work with a henchman who sells him out at every opportunity until they start bonding.

All the visual ideas are great but sometimes they can unnecessary bloat the picture. It is one of Miyazaki weaknesses to be over-indulgent and unfocused at times, sometimes he needs to tighten the story in certain places - especially during the last stretch it can feel exhausting. I still like the leisurely pace in the beginning and that the movie takes it's time to slowly pull us into another world/afterlife/beforelife however you want to call this place. There are beautiful visual metaphors like when the little balloon creatures fly off into the next world, one can say that those symbolize the protagonists own emotions bubbling up into the surface (this is also the first sequence where we see the main character smile and express genuine emitions) - and that he tries to repress those feelings. Especially towards his new stepmom which he tries to rescue seemingly out of pure obligation for his father. It is also no coincidence that we witness the appearance of an avatar of his real mother in that very same sequence - she tries to protect those cute balloons from hungry predators, but in the process burns most of them. The clinging to the ghost from the past is preventing a new blossoming/beginning. There simply aren't easy and clean-cut solutions, neither in nature nor our society.

There are certain moments where someone can get the impression that Miyazaki is making a statement towards his own legacy and the studio he helped to build. There are themes of responsibility & duty versus family sharing a lot of similarities to his last movie 'The Wind Rises' . I appreciated the ending, without getting into any spoiler territory, a lot of people wondered or were baffled why the final scene feels sort of "tacked on". But when you closely observe it, it is sound with the movie's themes and illustrates rather well the important choice of our main character.

Bombs rain down on the city and in the fire, chaos, and rubble a boy, Mahito, searches for his mom. He hears her voice calling him, but he can't find her. Even when Mahito, his dad, and a new woman move to the countryside, he still hears his mom's voice calling to him from the fire. In dreams and with the encouragement of a mysterious heron, Mahito enters an abandoned and magical tower where he hopes to get clues to his mom's whereabouts. It may be an elaborate trap.

This complex, beautiful, deeply imaginative, and many-layered film continues Miyazaki's amazing and awe-inspiring legacy. He is one of my favorite directors. In nature, wisdom about living, magic, charismatic guides (female as well as male), folklore, cute puffball critters, war/chaos, wackiness including flesh-eating parakeets, portals to other worlds, loss, and love, Miyazaki continues to run with favorite and endearing themes. The film is full of insight into what it means to be human. I was so happy to be part of the first audience to see the film outside of Japan.

There is depth in the story, characters, music, voices (much better in Japanese), and especially the artwork. I'm mesmerized just by the drawings and movement of the clouds. Oh and there are fantastic and intricately drawn ocean waves, moonlight reflected on water, vivid colors, resplendent contrasts of light and dark, elaborate tree branches, night skies with resplendent stars and meteors, grasses realistically swaying in the wind, alluring shadows, and so much more. The Boy and the Heron is worth watching for the artwork alone.

Three of us went to see this movie today (Sat 12/30/23). Preface: we LOVE Ghibli movies (we have watched 15+ of them) and have never watched one that we didn't enjoy... until today. First the good: animation was fantastic, voice work good, and music was good. But the script. OMG, the plot is a train wreck. The character development is nonexistent. Is there clear motivation and a compelling adversary? Nope. The ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. I will not spoil anything nor reveal any of the plot, but more WTF plot moments/elements than all other Ghibli movies COMBINED. We all rate it worse than Valerian. Two out of tree of us rated this movie THE WORST MOVIE WE HAVE EVER SEEN IN A THEATER, no joke! ~~You have been warned~~

The best way to describe this movie is to say the entire film feels like the scene in Spirited Away where Chihiro is on the train going to Yubaba's sister's house. It feels nostalgic, contemplative, and yearning for a time when the world appeared to be easier (ie through the eyes of a young boy).

But, like all of Miyazaki's works, the film is filled with gorgeous animation and incredibly fantastical set pieces. It's a rare end of career film that feels like a filmmaker at the height of their powers. Don't go in expecting Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle or Ponyo - it's very different from all of those films even though it shares a lot of the same themes. Just know you're putting your trust in one of the best living filmmakers whose fire for telling stories is far from dimming.

From Studio Ghibli, The Boy and the Heron is an animated movie about a boy that dramatically lose his mother due the war in Japan, and he and his father have to move to a safer place. When they arrive, they live in a nice and quiet home. In a place, were strange things did happen, and will happen, too. First of all, I have to list up what was good about the film. It was absolutely beautiful animation with great paint, drawing techniques, and amazing colors. They had that mix with painting-like animation, but at the same time, classic Japanese anime. And I really liked that, I think it is a very nice thing, and I can see that this is a technique that Studio Ghibli is using a lot, and they are really doing it well. Very nice music. It was soft, easy and quiet, but at the same time it built up a hidden suspense that was holding. The music was some sort of anxiety mixed with calmness. Very strange. Last thing that was good was the overall atmosphere and the feeling of the movie, at least in the first act. Because then things started to get a little weird. Everything became unknown and messy, the story changed the course multiple times, and I wasn't sure which way the plot was going to go. At the end everything became a little more clear, but still a little weird. When you don't know what is really going on, the action becomes a little nonsense, too. And that was exactly what happened. The action sequences were sometimes fun and entertaining, but I was still questioning: Why are they doing it? Why are they running? What are they running from? What's the point of the story? Good enough that they had a good moral at the end. Very great with a good message about the balance of the world, and that the soul value is very important. After all, this was a movie on the middle. Great music and animation. Fine atmosphere in the first act. But it got a little messy, and the story changed course to many times. They rushed a lot and I didn't get time to think. Studio Ghibli could have definitely done better.

As other Ghibli animation films this one makes its living out of those magical special moments that only Hayao Miyazaki can create. The amazing kaleidoscope that this man see the world through is truly something to behold. There is no surprise in that part of his genius but I felt like this story didn't reach out to us the way it was supposed to or the way other Studio Ghibli movies used to for that matter.

The thing I like the most was the representation of balance. How we must have evil in order for good to exist. It all made for a wonderful metaphor I think suited for the realm of our mind like how we must look for compensation between our good and bad deeds. As usual sending a message for every one of us to decipher in our own different way.

All things considered I still found this worthy of Ghibli but not at the same heights as others of their masterpieces.

I watched the film in the cinema last week, and I can say it was generally mediocre. I have always respected Miyazaki's extraordinary imagination, but in this film, he did the same things again. I don't know if it's his trademark, but in some of Miyazaki's films, he only shows a certain part of the world he creates and finishes the movie without fully explaining the plot. It's as if we've entered a different universe for a short time and are watching random events that happen to occur. Nothing is specifically explained to us.

Yes, it has always been enjoyable to watch the worlds created by Miyazaki's extraordinary imagination, but it bothers me that he finishes his films without filling in the gaps in the story. He did this partially in Howl's Moving Castle as well. By the way, this universe he created didn't draw me in as much as his other films did.

Miyazaki's latest film can't even make it among the best. It lacks the awe-inspiring qualities of films like Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke. Still, it's a Miyazaki classic with its detailed animations and wonderful music. Although I experienced some disappointment, thank you for everything, Miyazaki.

Mahito's life is dramatically changed, he's lost his mother, and his father has started a new life in the country, escaping a war. One day Mahito follows a heron, and enters a whole new fantasy world.

This first thing I'm going to start with, the visuals, what a feast for the eyes, it is a vividly, beautiful film, some of the scenes are honestly captivating, not just the animations themselves, but the colours and creativity.

To be honest, I can't say I fully understood what was going on, I did find myself needing to read up about the plot, as some of it did go over my head, I imagine this improves with a second viewing.

It feels like a very personal story, I wonder if Miyazaki was exercising personal demons through it. As always there's a strong moral angle running through it, but plenty of really good scenes.

I'm nitpicking, but I did prefer Spirited Away, maybe simply because I found it easier to follow, but I'd recommend this very highly.

Worth seeing for the incredible visuals alone.

7/10.

Maybe it's sacrilegious to say, but I didn't love this latest from the marvellously imaginative mind of Hayao Miyazaki. It follows the adventures of "Mahito" who arrives at the home of his factory-owning father amidst WWII. We appreciate quickly that his mother has died and that he is to have a new, expectant, mother in "Natsuko". When she mysteriously disappears and "Mahito" finds his presence "requested" by an enigmatic and beautiful grey heron, he strays into an old abandoned tower on his family estate and is soon embroiled in a world inhabited by people who are alive and, well, not! It seems the heron is not quite what it seemed, either, as he must explore rooms within rooms and endless doors that open into new scenarios. Pursued by giant pelicans, how can "Mahito" find his stepmother and return safely to their home? Luckily, along the way, he encounters the benevolently spiritual "Kiriko" as he finds himself the subject of some clever manipulation between the outwardly benign "Grand Uncle" who draws the power of life from a giant sacred stone he wishes to leave in the custody of our young explorer and the ambitious "Pelican King". You simply cannot fail to admire the vivid imagination of Miyazaki - the ideas and apparent randomness of the threads that gradually come together is hard enough to follow sometimes even when you have seen the denouement, and that's what makes these intricately drawn and characterised stories usually more intriguing and enjoying. Somehow, though, this was just a little too unstructured and meandering for my little brain. I've seen it twice now and maybe I just didn't engage with "Mahito" in the way I did with "Howl", "Totoro" or 'Chihiro" or, indeed, with the story. It's still a glorious watch on a big screen and is certainly well worth watching. Just not sure it is in his top five, though!

Visually striking, this film at moments took my breath away. The storyline is layered and I cannot wait to watch it over and over again to pick up more. The film itself tackles concepts of grief, loss, and community through the lens and understanding of a child.

I think this is one of Miyazaki's most beautiful creations. The effects are so realistic, the worlds created are new but also feel like they could be in the same universe as Howl's Moving Castle.

The story is less obvious, this one feels muted and subjective. Which I believe is intentional due to circumstances within the written universe and main character.

Truly worth the watch and will be a forever repeat for me with most of his classic films.