Animelab.com: Anime Reviews: Laputa

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mpdogz

Posts: 11
Score: 23
Rank: 43

First of all, I LOVE Miyazaki films and I was thrilled to finally see, "Laputa: The Castle in the Sky".

It has a very imaginative and gripping plot. It tells the story of a young girl named Sheeta (who is the heroine of the story), who takes her necklace from an agent (who has it) of the military named Musca as the air ship is under attack by air "pirates" lead by Dora (one of the gags in this movie was the pirates are all Dora's sons and they of course call her "mom" but she always insists that they call her captain) who are after this necklace. While escaping, she accidently falls off the ship but rather than fall and die, the necklace's power saves her and she floats down to the ground.

Meanwhile, a young orphan boy (the hero who we know will soon work with the heroine) who works in the mines named Pazu sees a glowing body from a distance while he's delivering some food to his house. He runs to it and catches the body to find that it's a girl (yes, it is Sheeta). He puts her to bed and the next day, the two meet and automaticaly become friends (much unlike Kiki and Tombo and San and Ashitaka, from Miyazaki's later films).

Pazu shows Sheeta a picture his dead father took of a floating structure while he was flying. The structure is called "Laputa" which many people think is just a myth, but Pazu is determined to prove the people wrong.

Soon enough, the pirates track down Sheeta with Pazu and get chased on a train, but escape--only to be tracked down by the army. The two escape to the mines for a while and when they come out--there's the army, waiting for them. They take Sheeta away from Pazu, which upsets her, and how could she not? How would you feel if the army took you away from your best friend?

Anyways, Musca talks to Sheeta about Laputa and how her necklace is the key to finding it. I would love to tell the rest but I don't want to make this review full of spoilers. ^.^

The artwork in this film is pretty darn good for something made in 1986, but it was quite bland (and to think, Nausicaa, which had great animation, was made before this). However, I loved the designs for the Laputa robots (that would lead to more spoilers if I told you what that was.)

Personally, I think this is my least favorite of Miyazaki's films (no, I didn't HATE it, I just didn't think it was as good as his other ones) for a few reasons. One is that all of Miyazaki's films have had no villain in it, but this one did, and he was your average power-craving bad guy. I also noticed there wasn't much change with the main characters (Sheeta and Pazu) whereas, again, Miyazaki tends to have his characters change enourmously. The film's message felt a bit weak (it was about "the power of love") when it's usually delivered powerfully in Miyazaki's films. Last, I really loved the beginning of this film with a train chase scene, but later on I didn't really seem to like the movie as much as I loved the beginning of it.

Overall, while it may not be as good as Miyazaki's other films, I did like it and recommend it to fans of sensei-Miyazaki.

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Contributions: Reviews: 22

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