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I was able to see an advanced screening of Miyazaki’s Ponyo, before the debut of the film to over 800 theatres nationwide in the United States on August 14, 2009.  The animation, as expected, was absolutely stunning, the use of color and animals in this film is just as beautiful as the teaser trailers hinted but the story seems to be lacking the sense of deep, emotional struggle and purpose that is so widely seen in Miyazaki’s other films.

The movie, no doubt, will be huge with children, as it is very much like an innocent and sweet fairytale, but the adults there, those of us who have grown up on Miyazaki’s older films like, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke and my personal favorite, Spirited Away, were honestly surprised by the ending of the film, and not in a good way.

The story is about Ponyo, a goldfish, who is rescued by a little boy named, Sosuke and then wishes to become a human.  Her father, Fujimoto, absolutely forbids Ponyo to go up to the surface and mingle with humans, as he hates them for destroying the ocean, but Ponyo uses magic and turns herself into a girl.  After a tsunami, Ponyo continues to cast spells of wonder as she and Sosuke must go in search of the boy’s missing mother, Lisa.

The movie, like all of Miyazaki’s films I’ve come to notice, had a very talented and well directed cast for the English dub, Liam Neeson as Fujimoto and Tina Fey as Lisa stood out the most for me.  I’m even giving props to Frankie Jonas as Sosuke- he was wonderful.

The problem with the film was the last half hour or so.  The story up until this point was coherent, steady and due to the protagonists being so young, the film was exceptionally cute.  However, after the buildup with Fujimoto’s character, the desire to rid the world of humans, the need to get Ponyo away from Sosuke and back into the ocean, all of this really heavy, emotional turmoil suddenly just dissolved for almost no reason and the story just ended.

Fujimoto initially had gone to find Ponyo’s mother to get help with his human problem, but upon her introduction, his decision changed like the drop of a hat, for reasons not really explained.  I felt she was a completely unnecessary character to the film and only frustrated the ending by having me leave the screening without one of Miyazaki’s messages rolling around in my head.

I did like being able to leave feeling cheerful and happy and so did the few children at the movie, but after watching such intense pieces of work from Miyazaki in the past, I felt sort of empty, even if the film was beautiful and as sweet as honey.

I’m a graduate of film school and for four years, had it drilled into me to be able to pick up on story inconsistencies and weak points and while I hate to admit it, Ponyo definitely isn’t Miyazaki’s strongest film.  However, it is great for children and families and honestly, if you just want to enjoy breathtaking art and feel good about life, it’s a movie you’ll want to watch.  I was able to completely ignore the weak ending until after I seriously sat down to write about it because I was just so taken the rest of the film.