~ Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) ~

I am a big Hayao Miyzaki fan. He made some of the best anime movies EVER. So, I was pretty excited that he made a new movied called Ponyo and Disney ported it over to the US. There's just one thing about the poster...why does it look like a Finding Nemo poster?? Anyway, I didn't get to see it during opening weekend, but some of my friends did. They said it's....boring. What?? How can it be? So, of course, I really want to watch it now to see if it's true.

Well...it is definitely not the most exciting movie in the world. The whole time I am waiting for the father to turn evil and kill everyone and for the boy to save the world. But, nothing happened. I thought for sure that Sousuke's mom is dead when he couldn't find her. But she was safe. I was just waiting and waiting for some of these sea creatures to attack Ponyo. But, they all just swam around, looking pretty.

But is it a bad movie? I think it's not one of Miyzaki's best movies, but it's not bad. My friend said the drawing style is ugly, but I think it's quite charming. The scenary is beautiful and the characters are classic Miyzaki characters. They look similar to characters from some of the oldest Miyzaki works and you may say that's outdated. But hey, the Simpsons had looked the same in over a decade right? And for sure, this movie looks better than Spongebob or any of those weird looking cartoons on Nickelodeon.

I also like how they show kids as kids should be, with their simple toys and simple clothes. The world is magical enough with just a simple boat and a simple bucket. Who needs PSPs and Nintendo DSes?

Of course, there's the environmental theme too. Look how the boats are killing innocent sea creatures and how dirty the sea floor is!! And of course, Ponyo nearly got killed by a stray glass bottle.

I think the movie is very cute and it's very fresh compare to all the fighting and violence in kids cartoons nowadays. Will I watch it again? Yes, with my kids, probably in Cantonese.