Kiki's Delivery Service is the third Studio Ghibli film I have seen at the cinema after My Neighbour Totoro & Spirited Away. It was nice to see a decent crowd in the screening I was at which was at 7pm on a Friday evening. The story is relatively simple, we meet Kiki who when she turns 13 leaves home to arrives at a town where she starts a delivery service. She doesn't find it easy to make friends and the only young person that seems to show her any interest fancies her and soon invites her to the dance which she doesn't seem to have an interest in attending. It is quite hard to like Kiki for quite a long period in this film. I get that she is trying to find her way in the world but I just found her to be slightly unlikeable but thankfully as the film progresses she warms to her surroundings and is easier to like.
There are a few instances of Kiki's business growing and they are quite interesting. One is where she has to transport a cage with a stuffed cat that looks like Kiki's but due to her inexperience with her broom she crashes into the trees, annoys the crows and the stuffed cat has fallen out so she has to go back and try to find it. Then she visits an old lady who wants her to deliver a case to her ungrateful granddaughter but due to oven issues it isn't ready so she chooses to help knowing that it might make her late for the party. Then the finale see her trying to save Tombo but she has to make do with a broom but this comes as she is trying to regain her powers but this being a film she manages to get her powers back and this leads to Kiki saving Tombo's life.
The animation, like all Studio Ghibli stuff is beautiful. I like modern animation but there is something about animation from this period that looks like the sort of place you would want to live in. The town that the film is set in looks like a nice mix of old fashioned yet slightly modern and the fact that the people seem to be quite welcoming of a witch is a nice thing to have in the story.
The film does end quite abruptly. I wouldn't have minded if the film spent 10 more minutes with Kiki being accepted by the entire town or a bit more from her parents. They appear at the beginning and then at the end. They felt like an afterthought but it was just the abruptness that stood out to me.
Whilst I really enjoyed Kiki's Delivery Service, I don't think it is as good as Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro. I think the lack of fantastic characters or story meant that whilst it was lovely to look at and the score from Joe Hisaishi was lovely to listen to, it doesn't stand up to those other two but its still a highly enjoyable film. I hope there are many more Studio Ghibli films shown at the cinema because seeing them on the big screen is a more rewarding experience than watching them at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment