Laputa:

Castle in the Sky

CARL's TAKE: <<<Three stars>>>

Summary - The hero of the story is a young boy who lives on his own atop a hill and works in a mine. One night a girl literally drops in on him, saved from a lethal fall from an airship by a strange pendant she wears. The girl is being chased by the military and a family of air pirates for the stone, which is somehow connected to the mythical floating city Laputa (yes, the one in the third journey of Gulliver's Travels, minus the crazy scientists). The hero's father claimed all his life the castle existed, so the hero and the girl race off to prove him right. But the military is willing to kill for the stone and the technology of Laputa - technology that could lay waste to any army in the world.

Impression - an adventure story with enough substance to entertain both the young and young at heart.

Review - I admit, when I first saw the simplistic, childish animation so similar to other children's works by the same team (My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service), I wasn't all that willing to keep watching. But I was desperate and stuck with it, and I was pretty surprised. It has a more mature plot than I was expecting, though at its heart it's still a children's story. The movie never really moves fast or violently enough to do much for an older audience, but if you're willing to suspend disbelief for a little while you might just like it.

VERDICT: kinda long so I saw it in two sittings. Don't expect too much and you'll probably be entertained.

MIKE'S TAKE: <<< >>>

BEN'S TAKE: <<< >>>