Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and The Heron follows Mahito (Luca Padovan), a young 12-year-old boy, as he struggles to settle in a new town after his mother’s death. However, when a talking heron (Robert Pattinson) informs Mahito that his mother is still alive, he enters an abandoned tower in search of her, which takes him to another world.
Hayao Miyazaki has been responsible for making some of the most amazing and beloved animated films with long-time collaborator Studio Ghibli, so when it was announced that Miyazaki was involved in a new project with Ghibli, possibly his final one, this film quickly became a hugely anticipated project for many people including myself. I got the chance to see the English dubbed version of the film and I can definitely say that while this is one of the most complex and bizarre films of Miyazaki’s career it is yet again a wonderfully crafted film on so many levels.
It is a visually stunning and epic journey with a lot of thematic layers, and was clearly made with great artistic passion by Miyazaki and the entire team from Ghibli. Due to major spoilers, I can’t get into much of the film’s story or themes but there are plenty of other things about this film I loved that I can talk about, starting with the animation.
Without a doubt this film is the best animated Miyazaki/Ghibli film to date, with viewers being immediately absorbed into the gorgeous world on display as early as the first frame to the very last. The beauty, charm, wonder, and weirdness of past Miyazaki films are on full visual display here, featuring an array of creative character designs as well as magnificent landscapes and scenes bursting with color and smooth movement. It is visually flawless in every way and even after so many years and so many films the animation continues to be perfect in quality.
I wasn’t able to watch the film in its original language so I ended up watching the English dub version of it but I can happily say that the chosen star-studded cast of the English version of this film phenomenally brought all these characters to life with their performances. Luca Padovan solidly delivers as Mahito, giving us a fantastic young lead to follow on a coming-of-age journey that takes many strange turns in a strange world. It is a familiar one that we have seen in Miyazaki’s other works but in my view, this one felt the most personal of all his characters, which may be because Mahito’s story is largely based on Miyazaki’s own life. It makes for an emotional journey to follow and Miyazaki’s writing combined with Luca’s acting makes this character very compelling to follow.
Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Gemma Chan, and Karen Fukuhara also deliver compelling performances but they are all immensely overshadowed by the two spotlight stealers of this film: Robert Pattinson as the Grey Heron and Florence Pugh as Kiriko. Robert Pattinson in his first voice acting role as the Heron is completely unrecognizable and yet is fucking phenomenal in every way. The very moment he spoke I truly could not believe it was Pattinson doing the voice. He completely took me by surprise and I absolutely loved this character, largely because of his performance. He turns what could have been a basic creature companion into a full-on joy of a character that is hilarious, unhinged, and unsettling all at the same time in the best way possible. Every time he came on screen the film was in his hands and he was fully committed to it. It is easily one of the most impressive voice-acting debuts I have seen in years, especially for an English dub.
Close behind him is the always incredible Florence Pugh who delivers a double performance as the same character in two different worlds. Florence Pugh effectively plays an old woman who lives at Mahito’s father’s estate and a seafaring young badass who may be tough on the outside but has a heart of gold on the inside. Pugh is flawless in each of her parts, creating a very enjoyable character with a unique dual nature that becomes an instant stand out in the film next to Pattinson every time she enters the story.
As for Dave Bautista and Willem Dafoe, both of them are also excellent in their respective roles but they ended up being rather underutilized in this film which is a shame given how talented both of them are. Their parts are certainly memorable and they do contribute to the incredible world built in this film but I honestly would have loved to have them more involved.
Similar to Miyazaki’s past films this one features a layered story with brilliant fantasy elements as well as bizarrely creative elements, but I will admit this film felt way more complex in comparison to his previous work. I can’t say why due to spoilers but it was a bit difficult to understand what was going on during certain parts of the film due to so many crazy turns and introduced plot elements that aren’t fully explained or explored. Things did become more clear for some things as the film progressed but there were other things I felt were left unanswered. Some of it could have been purposefully left for viewer interpretation, which is fine in some cases, but I can definitely see some people potentially being left puzzled by certain things as the film ends. A bit more time focused on the narrative portion of this film could have made things better as a whole but that being said I still loved what we got as well as some of the strong themes presented throughout the film.
The animation, editing, and sound design are all perfect across the board but another major highlight this film has going for it is the stellar score by composer Joe Hisaishi. Like previous Miyazaki films that he’s been involved in Hisaishi’s music truly enhances all elements of the film and really absorbs you further into the film’s fantastical world and story.
I am not sure if I can consider this film to be the best of Miyazaki’s films but it is one of his best and there are lots of special things about it that make it an absolutely worthwhile watch, especially in theaters. This film oozes with artistic passion and it is clear that Miyazaki put a lot of heart and soul into making this, especially if it is meant to be his final project. I am going to give The Boy and The Heron an A = 95.
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