Let's face it. This movie has EVERYTHING. Adorable and witty characters, unexpected movie plots, and is basically an AMAZING montage of all your favorite childhood video game characters, and MORE. I had first watched this movie magnificence in the theaters itself, and actually convinced my friends who had already seen this movie to watch it again –– it is THAT good. The main character is a villain in a video game named Ralph. Scorned upon, he set on an adventure to show that he could be a hero for once, instead of a villain. This is the movie that has restored my hope for actually decent, clever, heartstring-tugging family films, in contrast to the declining quality of movies we dare to call entertainment.
The movie that forever has my heart would be:
To begin with, I LOVE Studio Ghibli films, which would be the Disney equivalent of America in Japan. (But as far as I know, the closest thing they have to a theme park is a Studio Ghibli Museum Tokyo, Japan)
I remember when I first watched this movie, it was in 2003, I sat bundled on the couch of my sister's ex-boyfriend. He had lived in Japan for a huge majority of his life, and so he was very in touch with Japanese culture. One day when he baby sat me, he asked if I wanted to see a movie, and that was the biggest mistake of his life because it was this movie.
This movie had not come out in America in 2003, so the copy that he had was in Japanese. I didn't understand a lick of Japanese, as I was Korean, so I had him translate the entire movie for me. Every single time in his miserable existence of babysitting me, he had to translate this film for me. And I fell more and more in love with the movie because it's just AMAZING. I felt like I had a very strong similarity to the main character, and practically memorized all the lines, songs, and even the inflections and intonations of the characters' voices when they spoke! Speaking about the movie does not do it justice, YOU MUST WATCH IT. But if you're vanilla, it's basically about a girl who gets spirited away and forced into labor in a bath house in order to save her parents.
I later found out that this movie actually holds some very dark implications and symbolism, but more could be read about that here.
In short, this movie is a masterpiece, and any other opinion will lead me to say, "as a merciful princess, I hereby degree, that anyone who disagrees with me shall be.... EXECUTED" (See what I did there?)
I love Spirited Away! One of my all-time favorite movies. I actually have a Spirited Away tattoo, and working on a Hayao Miyazaki movie themed leg sleeve. Anyways... You would probably consider me "vanilla" but I still understood the concept and story of this movie the first time I watched it. This movie is indeed a masterpiece.
ReplyDelete"Spirited Away" sounds amazing. Yes I will watch it.
ReplyDeleteI love Wreck-It Ralph! I did not like Ralph in the beginning, but I eventually felt bad for him. He just wants some love :(
ReplyDeleteI have not yet seen Spirited Away yet, but since Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite movies, I will definitely watch it!
Miyazaki movies are amazing. I grew up on Kiki's Delivery Service and Totoro as a little kid. Similarly Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies, From Up on Poppy Hill, Pom Poko, Castle in the Sky, and Porco Rosso are all absolutely stunning films.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe not Grave of the Fireflies. Best movie I will absolutely never, ever watch again. There are quite simply too many emotions coming out of that film to readily stomach in any setting.
I've been to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. It's good, but the line was absurdly long. It was essentially a line from the start of the museum to the end. The crowd makes sense though, considering the sheer mastery of Studio Ghibli. Plus, you can't ignore Joe Hisaishi's music.
YES!! I agree with all of the above statements. I remember bawling like a little baby watching Grave of the Fireflies.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous you got to go to the Museum! It's definitely on my go-to list for if I ever visit Japan.
I have nearly all of Hisaishi's compositions, it is soul food.