Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 2008)

[Nothing]

So, after all the tepid press and the delayed release dates, I finally caught up with this. It's fairly excellent, imho, certainly better than Howl's or Mononoke - if a little too fussy to rise to the heights of Totoro or Kiki (but is that something anyone was really expecting?). Perhaps the last 10 minutes are a little damp; perhaps the characters of Ponyo's father/mother don't quite fit in; perhaps the environmentalism is a little heavy-handed (what's new?!); perhaps Hisashi's score is somewhat second rate, with the exception of the final song. On the other hand, the relationships between Sosuke and his parents, and Ponyo and Sosuke, are touchingly realised and mostly uncliched; the port town setting is perfectly chosen; the film is a litany of fantastic visual moments that only Miyazaki could envisage, from the rising fleet of jellyfish and Ponyo riding the waves during the storm to the parade of the sea creatures along the submerged road. And the hand-drawn animation is fantastic, just beautiful. In short, don't be put off, the master is still in full command of his faculties (and if there was a better film at Venice last year I haven't yet seen it).

[zedz]

Point 1) I have to say I agree with you almost 100%. Which leads to -

Point 2) Who are you and what have you done with the real Nothing?