Written & Directed By Hayao Miyazaki; Starring Luca Padovan, Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh.
The Boy and the Heron follows a boy named Mahito Maki (Luca Padovan) during the Pacific War who discovers an abandoned tower in his new town after his mother's death and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron. This is the latest from legendary Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki. He’s previously given us a number of acclaimed movies such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises.
Miyazaki has often been viewed as a master filmmaker for a reason. Every single image he crafts here looks so breathtaking. They almost have the feel of great paintings. Yet when it comes to the actual story, it’s an elegant one told very well. There’s plenty of thought-provoking ideas and serious stuff you would never find in most mainstream animated movies. The sound design is quite crisp while Joe Hisaishi’s musical score is stunning.
Whenever I watch a foreign language film, I prefer doing so with no English-language dubbing. Although given the all-star cast for this one in particular, I decided to give it a shot. Luca Padovan does excellent work voicing the main character. The rest of the cast, it took me a while before figuring out who was voicing who. Once I figured it all out, I became more impressed with how everyone else did.
In the end, The Boy and the Heron is both visually appealing and emotional at the same time. There’s rushing at all in the storytelling. Instead, the filmmakers wisely take time to tell it to great use. A heartfelt fantasy that’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life. For my first Miyazaki movie in theaters, this was definitely worth it.
Rating: 4.5/5
The Boy and the Heron follows a boy named Mahito Maki (Luca Padovan) during the Pacific War who discovers an abandoned tower in his new town after his mother's death and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron. This is the latest from legendary Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki. He’s previously given us a number of acclaimed movies such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises.
Miyazaki has often been viewed as a master filmmaker for a reason. Every single image he crafts here looks so breathtaking. They almost have the feel of great paintings. Yet when it comes to the actual story, it’s an elegant one told very well. There’s plenty of thought-provoking ideas and serious stuff you would never find in most mainstream animated movies. The sound design is quite crisp while Joe Hisaishi’s musical score is stunning.
Whenever I watch a foreign language film, I prefer doing so with no English-language dubbing. Although given the all-star cast for this one in particular, I decided to give it a shot. Luca Padovan does excellent work voicing the main character. The rest of the cast, it took me a while before figuring out who was voicing who. Once I figured it all out, I became more impressed with how everyone else did.
In the end, The Boy and the Heron is both visually appealing and emotional at the same time. There’s rushing at all in the storytelling. Instead, the filmmakers wisely take time to tell it to great use. A heartfelt fantasy that’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life. For my first Miyazaki movie in theaters, this was definitely worth it.
Rating: 4.5/5