by Kat Musselwhite

Created on: October 12, 2010

Title: Ponyo

Certificate: U

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Release: 12 February 2010

Starring: (Voice of) Noah Cyrus, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Matt Damon, Cloris Leachman

Rating: 2/10

I've been an enormous Studio Ghibli fan since the early 1990's when I first watched Laputa: Castle in the Sky on television. Since Disney bought the Distribution Rights to the films, I've slowly been building up my collection, and last week when I decided that I didn't like the boots I'd been eyeing up in New Look, after all, I decided to spend part of the money on one of the newest to the Studio Ghibli Collection: Ponyo.

A Uni friend had told me that Ponyo was a lot like My Neighbor Totoro; a cute, harmless film that melts the heart, but has no real story, which I equated to being like Kiki's Delivery Service. I wasn't keen on the idea of there not being much of a decent story, but I love Totoro, and the cuteness usually sells itself. But, I really couldn't quite click with this film.

The fact that Sosuke was only supposed to be five, was completely unbelievable, because my gosh, that is a VERY mature five year old, and the "love" between him and Ponyo seemed quite creepy. Sosuke just didn't act like a five year old, nevermind the fact that Frankie Jonas didn't even try to sound like a five year old.

The relationship between Ponyo and her Father seemed very odd, and other than him referring to Ponyo as his daughter, you certainly wouldn't have ever guessed, because he certainly didn't treat her like one. I know they were "fish", but this is a Studio Ghibli, and for me Studio Ghibli is about the relationships and bonds between characters, which was an aspect this film severely lacked.

As a human, Ponyo was surreal to watch (not in a good way), and I can't believe how easily Sosuke's mother just accepted that this girl who had appeared was actually her son's fish.  But then, she wasn't exactly the greatest example of a good parent! I know, the waters are rising from the storm, the road ahead is dangerous and we're being told to turn back, but no, let's not keep safe. Let's risk death by driving through sea waters, with our allegedly five year old son, risking not only my own life but his as well! And then, she leaves him and Ponyo home alone, in the middle of a dangerous storm!

The whole morse code thing between Sosuke and his father was unrealistic too, because no matter which direction the boat turned, they still seemed capable of seeing each others lights....figure that one out!

The plot just didn't fit with me, because there were a lot of times when I found myself not having a clue what on earth was going on, whilst at other times, events seemed too convenient.

Overall, the plot was dry. The characters were unlikeable, with several verging on creepy rather than cute, as I'd expected. There was no sign of Ghibli's traditional emotion, and any emotion that was there was washed away in drippyness.  The film was far too surreal to be enjoyable, because nothing made sense.

So, as you might guess, I really don't rate this film too highly!

Learn more about this author, Kat Musselwhite.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.