| RELEASE DATE | RUNTIME | IMDB | ROTTENTOMATOES | METACRITIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8th, 2023 | 2hr 4m | 7.6 | 97% | 92 |
Premise:
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Director(s):
Hayao Miyazaki
Writer(s):
Hayao Miyazaki
| JAPANESE VOICE CAST | ENGLISH VOICE CAST | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soma Santoki | … | Luca Padovan | … | Mahito Maki (voice) |
| Masaki Suda | … | Robert Pattinson | … | The Grey Heron (voice) |
| Takuya Kimura | … | Christian Bale | … | Shoichi Maki (voice) |
| Aimyon | … | Karen Fukuhara (as Lady Himi) | … | Himi (voice) |
| Kô Shibasaki | … | Florence Pugh | … | Kiriko (voice) |
| Yoshino Kimura | … | Gemma Chan | … | Natsuko (voice) |
| Shohei Hino | … | Mark Hamill (as Granduncle) | … | Great-Uncle (voice) |
| Jun Kunimura | … | Dave Bautista | … | The Parakeet King (voice) |
| Kaoru Kobayashi | … | Willem Dafoe (as Noble Pelican) | … | Old Pelican (voice) |
Well I very much enjoyed it. It’s perhaps Miyazaki’s most beautiful film. There’s so much detail and the animation is top notch. I was particularly impressed with the sound design.
I saw the English Dub, since I’ve never watched any Ghibli film dubbed before and this has a stacked cast. Ill rewatch it in Japanese at some point. They were all great, especially the kid who plays Mahito, Luca Padovan. Christian Bale, while good, felt a little like he was in a different movie with his regional American accent he was doing, that no one else did. Robert Pattinson’s voice was completely unrecognizable and I continue to praise him despite all the people hating on him because they only know him from Twilight.
The themes of getting over grief/anger are present like a lot of Ghibli films and they are done so well here. Well deserving to be Miyazaki’s last film and a great addition to his legacy.