Mary and the Witch's Flower
May. 7th, 2018 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe first film from new Studio Ponoc, and the heritage of Studio Ghibli is clear - and deliberate. There are initally echoes of Kiki's Delivery Service in this story of Mary, a young girl struggling with boredom in the summer holidays, who is led by a sardonic cat to a magical flower and a bouncy broomstick. These, in turn, bring her to Endor College, an anime Hogwarts, which is quickly revealed not to be all it seems.
I always enjoy reading the warnings on the certificate screen before films. This one was rated U, with a warning of "very mild threat", which I think was not remotely correct. The film opens with a young witch escaping a burning building, pursued by creepy robots that turn into horrifying flying fish. The resulting high-speed air chase was both exhilarating and terrifying, and the levels of threat in the rest of the film stayed pretty high, in my opinion!
Mary made for a spirited heroine, the cats were great, it was visually stunning, and there was always lots going on. In fact, once it really got going, it felt like it all went by way too fast, with so many aspects of the world left unexplored. But it was a wild ride, which kept me engaged throughout, and had lots of lovely touches that left me thinking Totoro's legacy is in good hands.
I always enjoy reading the warnings on the certificate screen before films. This one was rated U, with a warning of "very mild threat", which I think was not remotely correct. The film opens with a young witch escaping a burning building, pursued by creepy robots that turn into horrifying flying fish. The resulting high-speed air chase was both exhilarating and terrifying, and the levels of threat in the rest of the film stayed pretty high, in my opinion!
Mary made for a spirited heroine, the cats were great, it was visually stunning, and there was always lots going on. In fact, once it really got going, it felt like it all went by way too fast, with so many aspects of the world left unexplored. But it was a wild ride, which kept me engaged throughout, and had lots of lovely touches that left me thinking Totoro's legacy is in good hands.
