Tales From Earthsea...
I picked up Tales From Earthsea recently...
The animation quality is quite high and very consistent with other Studio Ghibli productions. The story, however, is a bit weak. While there is plenty of material in the world of Earthsea to work with, a large part of the movie is spent looking at pretty scenery. And, the dragons, although beautifully and stunningly rendered, make all too brief appearances at the start and end of the feature -- I really, really wanted to see more of the dragons.
There are some very nice moments in the feature, but, they occur rather infrequently in this nearly two-hour epic. There was some action in the last quarter of the feature as events build rather quickly near the end. As is the case in some foreign films, this feature does not have a typical Disney-like ending. The dubbing, as with other Disney productions, is really good. I thoroughly enjoyed the English dub as much as the original Japanese dialogue.
Overall, Tales From Earthsea was beautifully animated, but, thoroughly uninteresting. In my humble opinion, this feature is not a promising addition to the directing career of Goro Miyazaki. I give it a 2 out of 5.
Based on the classic "Earthsea" fantasy book series by Ursula K. Le Guin, Tales From Earthsea is set in a mythical world filled with magic and bewitchment. In the land of Earthsea, crops are dwindling, dragons have reappeared and humanity is giving way to chaos. Journey with Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a masterwizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, on a tale of redemption and self-discovery as they search for the force behind the mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy their world.
The animation quality is quite high and very consistent with other Studio Ghibli productions. The story, however, is a bit weak. While there is plenty of material in the world of Earthsea to work with, a large part of the movie is spent looking at pretty scenery. And, the dragons, although beautifully and stunningly rendered, make all too brief appearances at the start and end of the feature -- I really, really wanted to see more of the dragons.There are some very nice moments in the feature, but, they occur rather infrequently in this nearly two-hour epic. There was some action in the last quarter of the feature as events build rather quickly near the end. As is the case in some foreign films, this feature does not have a typical Disney-like ending. The dubbing, as with other Disney productions, is really good. I thoroughly enjoyed the English dub as much as the original Japanese dialogue.
Overall, Tales From Earthsea was beautifully animated, but, thoroughly uninteresting. In my humble opinion, this feature is not a promising addition to the directing career of Goro Miyazaki. I give it a 2 out of 5.
