Ponyo (2009)

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6 out of 10: Worth The Money

also called "Gake no ue no Ponyo" or "Ponyo On The Cliff"

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Stars: (dubbed) Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas, Tina Fey, and Liam Neeson

Ponyo is the story of a goldfish on a quest to become human. One day, she escapes from her father's grasp and meets a little boy named Sauske (Frankie Jonas) who takes care of her. Once she tastes human blood, she has enough power to become a little girl and returns to the surface to find her true love, Sauske.... Little does she know, however that if she returns to the surface as a human with magic, she will cause nature to become unbalanced and the world would be flooded forever. So Sauske and Ponyo (the goldfish-girl) must save the world before it's too late!

WARNING: the rest of this post contains spoilers. I suggest to not read the rest until you have seen the movie, or do not care about getting the movie spoiled. I'm serious. Spoilers. Below. Right now.

So, Ponyo. What can I say? Ooo! Wait! Let's talk about the other Studio Ghibli films first!

Well, Studio Ghibli has a lot of awesomely good films. Most of them, I have remembered and cherished since I was a child... some were great films, and some not so much. But nonetheless, they were a great way to grow up. "My Neighbor, Totoro" was full of adorable little animals (minus that stupid-ass Mae. Who I wanted to strangle) and even though it was about coping with the slow death of their mother, it was still a wonderful tale of whimsy and woe. Wow. lots of Ws in that sentence. Anyways, the other I loved was "Kiki's Delivery Service." OKAY. So I haven't seen this movie since I was a little girl... and yes, I'm aware that it's really cheesy and kind of stupid, but it was full of wonderful little moments that I remember from my childhood... specifically watching it pretty much everytime I went to my grandmother's house (sorry!!!). "Spirited Away," probably the most well known Ghibli film, was such a grandeous piece of magic that it's hard not to love. The dragons, the animations, the MASSIVE BABY!!! "Howl's Moving Castle," "Princess Monoke," and "Castle In The Sky" are three movies that are still pretty fantastic, but I cannot recall seeing them ('cept Howls, but that was a LONNNNG time ago).

So, to say Ponyo is their best work would be far from the truth, however it was still pretty fantastic.

Okay, so kudos to Studio Ghibli: the people they choose to dub are pretty well-known, but are almost hidden enough to be suitable for the movie. Tina Fey (who played Sauske's mother) and Matt Damon (who played Sauske's dad) were kind of obvious, but not distracting. In fact, I had no idea that Liam Neeson was Ponyo's father until about an hour after the movie ended. So hooray for good casting, otherwise I would've given it less points...

As for the story line? It's a little confusing. We find out that Ponyo's father used to be human, but now he lives underwater... creating animals and creatures with his magic. His wife is the goddess of mercy (apparently), and together they made Ponyo, the cute little goldfish. Much like the little mermaid, she ends up on a cliff where Sauske finds her, and of course love her. Obviously magically, she ends up turning herself into a human... and in order to find Sauske, starts a MASSIVE tsunami that pretty much destroys their town! Great job there!

The one thing that reeeeeallly bothered me more in this movie than ever was the lack of "WHATTHEEFF moments that happened between other characters. What I mean is that, well, THERE IS A TSUNAMI DESTROYING YOUR CITY. And what does Sauske's mother do? Well drive home in this tiny little pink van (driving EXTREMELY recklessly, I might add)... and what does she do when she sees Ponyo practically molest Sauske's 5-year old face, she's like "Oh hey, that's his goldfish. Cool Beans." I'd be like WHAT? if I saw her!

Oh, and then Sauske's mom decides to leave her 5-YEAR-OLD SON home ALONE during a Tsunami to save old people. Hooray for Selflessness.... but, Boo for child protective services?! Then, in the morning once the two children decide to leave to find his mother, they run into like every person in the town. How do the people react to this tsunami? Well, they are just kind of lazing in a boat with a sun-brella and happy faces. If that was me, i'd probably be having a panic attack.

Finally, to restore nature's balance, Sauske must prove he is true and will love Ponyo for who she is. Again, let me remind you that he is 5-YEARS-OLD. So when he proves he's true, basically he's stuck with the same woman for the rest of his life. Don't get me wrong, Ponyo is adorable... more adorable than most of Studio Ghibli's 10-and-under kids... but her personality can be kind of annoying.... especially for the rest of his life!

Overall, I did enjoy this movie. The music was very epic (like the old 1920s movie Metropolis), and the artwork was just absolutely gorgeous! The sea critters looked VERY real, and HOW CUTE WERE THE LITTLE GOLDFISH SISTERS?!!! I just wanted to take one home with me!!! ANYWAYS.... the best scenes were very creative: the entire Tsunami scene was intense, and beautiful! As well as the fisherman scene, where they realize where they are located after the storm. Wonderful.

However, this movie is not really as good as I hoped it would be. I do wish that it had a little more sense knocked into it.... but I do love it. It's not my favorite, but it's definitely not the worst movie ever. And besides, the artwork is worth it!!!

So go... ONE WORD OF WARNING: The song during the credits is unbearable. LEAVE IF YOUU CANNNNNN!!!!