A Cute Disaster Film: Ponyo

Synopsis

This is tale that tells of a lonely little boy named Sousuke lives with his mother by the sea. With his father being a sailor, Sousuke sends flashing messages across the water to his father’s boat. One day while playing by the sea, he stumbles across a strange looking goldfish. Delighted to find a new friend, he decides to take her home and names her Ponyo. However, his new friend is no ordinary fish but rather a daughter of the sea who has turned human. This in turn brings a shift between the sea and Sousuke’s town.

The Good

It’s a rather contradictory title but it somehow it fits some of the best aspects of the film. There was no question that there would be lovely art and animation, whether it be the way that Ponyo turned human or how Ponyo’s home is designed along with her mother, there’s quite a bit of visual beauty to enjoy. While the art and animation is lovely though, it’s Ponyo and Sousuke who stands out as the highlight of the film.

Simply put, they’re an adorable pair of kids who work as kid characters for the film. They’re the kind of pair that’s plain innocent and make for endearing characters. Other than this, the plot of the film held some interesting lore and a good amount of build-up towards the climax and ending.

The Bad

The lore is interesting and the characters are cute, but the fact that the end to all of this disaster lies on these two children’s love seems just a tad much. As a fantasy film, there’s a lot of interesting aspects to enjoy. Otherwise, it could use some work here and there. There were a few holes in the plot and there characters could have been panned out better. In addition, the ending left s few loose ends.

Conclusion

The film is cute that much is true. Ponyo and Sousuke made for an adorable and endearing pair of kid characters.There was a good amount of lore and the story had some nice build-up for the most part. The problem is that the story seems to have a few holes and the ending left a few loose ends. It’s not the greatest of films among the Studio Ghibli lineup but it’s cute and it has charm and is worth a watch.

Rating: 7/10