| Simple fun family film |
|
| written by Biehlanphear |
June 25, 2007 - 11:34 AM PDT |
| Though not as interesting as Miyazaki's more recent films or as cute and involving as the classic My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service is a fun children's movie. I think it's difficult to disagree with any of the concepts in this movie; who wouldn't prefer benevolent witches and love to know one, and who doesn't struggle with feeling useful; but the movie doesn't get much deeper or fantastic. |
| Beautiful, uplifting, and yes, magical. |
|
| written by JTurner1 |
April 17, 2004 - 9:40 AM PDT |
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
I used to believe that Anime was nothing but sex and violence -- stuff for grown-ups only. However, I take it back. And I owe it to this cute little gem called Kiki's Delivery Service that really turned me around for the better. It introduced me to arguably one of the greatest animators of all time, Hayao Miyazaki, who happens to be dubbed as the Walt Disney of Japan. Having since seen virtually ALL of his films, from The Castle of Cagliostro to Spirited Away, I can see why he is such a highly acclaimed artist -- his works (and I mean every one of them) are a stroke of genius.
Kiki's Delivery Service may have been my first real exposure to Miyazaki, but this happens to be the director's fifth film, which was the highest grossing movie of its year in Japan. Adapted from a children's book by Eiko Kadono (recently released in America), the film is not a typical good-versus-evil conflicted, dysfunctional story but a gentle, character-driven story with endearing characters, beautiful artistry, and a strong, positive message about confidence and independence that are quite encouraging for all, from the youngest of children to the oldest at heart. (On a side note, it persuaded me to get some exercise! The "fat, fat, FAT!!!" line did it for me.)
The story is about 13-year old Kiki, an adorable witch-in-training, who, on one moonlit night, leaves her hometown to seek her independence and fortune. She's accompanied by her wisecracking and hilarious pet black cat, Jiji, and a little wobbly when it comes to takeoffs and landings while maneuvering her broomstick. Kiki arrives at a luxurious town with an ocean view where she eventually finds work at a bakery run by the generous Osono and her silent, gruff husband. There, she starts a high-flying delivery service which opens up many new relationships for the budding witch -- including a friendly painter, Ursula, a kind old woman, Madame, and a boy named Tombo, who dreams of flying.
The above synopsis may sound dull, but Kiki's Delivery Service certainly is not. It is a joy to watch from start to finish as we see Kiki slowly grow up and learn to have faith in herself, especially when her powers begin to fade away toward the end of the movie. It's engrossing enough to keep one's attention and there are a number of tear-jerking moments that make it more than just a movie. This is a characteristic you'll only be able to find in Miyazaki, and Kiki's Delivery Service "delivers" a wonderful movie which shows that movies don't have to be about overcoming evil or action-packed or angst-ridden to be entertaining.
In 1996, Disney struck a deal with Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki's studio, to distribute the director's movies worldwide. Kiki was their first release. It proved to be a very successful release when it was released to video on September of 1998; it sold over a million copies in the US - a record for any Anime video. But since then, the movie has been out of print, and there was never a DVD release. Now, however, Disney has at last released this film, along with Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away, to DVD for a new generation to discover, with overall pleasing results. The video quality is gorgeous for the most part; although there are some very obvious compression artifacts in the darker scenes which are distractingly noticeable, they aren't enough to drag the film down. The audio features the Japanese and English language tracks in 5.1, but the menus suffer in that you can't change the subtitles as you watch the movie. Oh, well, at least the extras (intro by John Lasseter, Japanese trailers, behind-the-microphone featurette, and storyboards), although not plentiful, do help to cover these flaws.
The movie was originally dubbed into English by Carl Macek of Streamline Pictures, but this Disney dub features an all-star cast who do a truly excellent job with their roles. Thirteen-year-old Kirsten Dunst is perfect as Kiki, eliciting just the right touch of cuteness, spunkiness, independence, and poignancy to her role. The other actors, which include Debbie Reynolds (Madame), Tress MacNeille - of Tiny Toons and Animaniacs fame - (Osono), Jeanane Garofolo (Ursula), and Matthew Lawrence (Tombo), give similarly superb performances. Of the actors, however, it is the late Phil Hartman's witty, sarcastic take on Jiji that steals the show. I understand that some folks were offended at Hartman's performance and added-in lines, but if you have no such issues, then this is only extra icing on the cake -- especially when he does it so well. I swear, I just cannot get enough laughs every time I hear his lines. "First, don't panic! Second, don't panic! And third, did I mention not to panic?!?" The opening and ending songs were replaced by two gorgeous, rollicking numbers from Sydney Forest, but even they seem to suit the story wonderfully. In fact, I find myself bouncing to them every time they pop up over the opening and closing credits of the show. For you purists, the Japanese language track features the original songs (though there is a continuous debate about the subtitles being inaccurate, that's a very minor complaint) and credit presentation.
Although the DVD presentation is far from perfect, Kiki's Delivery Service is a gem that should not be missed and deserves to be well-known in America as it is in Japan. I highly -- and I do mean VERY HIGHLY -- recommend it. |
| A great film from a brilliant director. |
|
| written by roybatty |
March 27, 2004 - 10:18 PM PST |
| There is something about Miyazaki films that always makes me cry. They contain magic and wonderment on a level that is unsurpassed even by Disney. While it's not my favorite of Miyazaki's output - Porco Rosso and My Neighbor Totoro have the top spots - Kiki's Delivery Service is, for the most part, flawless. The story itself is pure sweetness, but there is an unmistakeable undercurrent of sadness (the Japanese call it yoin) embodied beautifully in Kiki herself. It's this sadness, in this case the sadness of growing up, of being human, of loving and being loved, that gives Miyazaki films their power and place him head and shoulders above the current animated fray. Both children and adults understand this - only Hollywood big shots seem immune, maybe they get too much sun - which makes watching a Miyazaki film a pleasure for folks of any age. Miyazaki has never made a bad film, and Kiki's Delivery Service ranks among his best. The transfer by Disney is uniformly excellent, the American voice talent is well above average (although I do prefer Japanese with English subtitles)and the extras - not to mention the supplementary disk - are pretty neat. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy these films. |
| Nice story about finding confidence in one's own abilities |
|
| written by hneline1 |
December 14, 2003 - 7:55 PM PST |
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyubin) is a nice story about a young girl who leaves home and makes friends while learning how to live on her own. I love Miyazaki's films where there is such a sense of community and helpfulness surrounding the young protagonists (My Neighbor Totoro, Panda Go Panda), and the lessons learned are about getting along while finding confidence in one's own abilities. Some people may feel this film is too saccharin but what do you expect from a "heartwarming" movie?
If you want a different take on the theme, watch Miyazaki's later work, Spirited Away, which I thought was more complex and realistic (for a fantastical premise) because of the greater influence of external forces. Kiki's Delivery Service is still set in a safe world centered around Kiki's successes, while Spirited Away speaks to a child's dark fears as well as her successes. ** START SPOILER** I mean, what's Kiki's great fiasco? She inexplicably loses her ability to fly, which makes her lose confidence in herself. What's Chihiro's great fiasco? Her parents turn into pigs because of their own gluttony, and they will be slaughtered for food if she doesn't rescue them. **END SPOILER ** Both are still great movies about growing up. As an adult, I like Spirited Away better.
|
| Definitely for the kids... |
|
| written by larbeck |
September 8, 2003 - 3:23 PM PDT |
|
5 out of 6 members found this review helpful
|
I dunno. I have been watching a lot of Miyazaki lately. And it is cool to see this film, set in a European village, apparently in the 50's, in an alternate universe where witches are accepted although not necessarily commonplace, and dirgibles are powered with helium and not hydrogen.
This is yet another of one of Disney/Lasseter's good English dubs - but I do have mixed emotions on the role of Jiji the cat. Phil Hartman (may God rest his sweet soul) did do a great job and Kirsten Durst credits the chemistry between them for making some magic with film - but the original seiyuu was sooo much younger and the relationship between Kiki and Jiji has a different flavor in the original Japanese then it does in the English. Not as bad what happened with the role of Luna in the Sailor Moon series, but it resembles that.
If you are an adult and have no children, go ahead and rent it if you have not seen much Miyazaki. He is a master. But if you are not, you might want to want until you can share it with a young person. The younger the better.
And I am sorry to say that Disney replaced the original Japanese songs with a couple of the more generic white singers in the world. At least, the Japanese track is preserved, and thank the sweet goddess, appears in Dolby Digital 5.1! As I heard it downmixed to stereo, I cannot verify the quality, but there is much potential there. |
| My 4th favorite film of all time. |
|
| written by MegaOtaku |
June 26, 2003 - 1:16 AM PDT |
|
12 out of 12 members found this review helpful
|
Currently coming in 4th in my personal top 10 favorite movies list, Kiki's Delivery service does standout somewhat from the pack, in that its not really an adventure, and while certainly containing fantasy elements, it is not a fantasy movie in the common sense of the word.
GreenCine has done a good job of summarizing the plot so I wont repeat it, but what makes this film special is the way it handles the story. Its one of the easiest films to describe in a word as simply "nice". There is no villain, no sudden tragedy, no really frightening scenes, it just follows Kiki around her daily life in her new hometown, and its all handled with a very well executed level of subtlety, there's no big obtrusive slapstick or silliness that would most certainly be found in a Disney movie of this sort. Everything just feels real, especially the characters who you really grow to care for because they are so real and don't slip into any of the conventional anime or Disney molds. A big part of this is the Japanese voice acting that perfectly fit each character and never over-act any of the parts. All of this accompanied by an appropriately calm musical score by master composer Joe Hisaishi that is not breath taking like his other work on Miyazaki films, but is still very good and very fitting to the movie.
And of course the master animation of Studio Ghibli is not surprisingly more lush and alive then anything that Disney could ever muster. With highly expressive characters that never fail to make you believe in them. And the leisurely pace of the film that really allows the extremely colorful nature-themed backgrounds that always accompany Miyazaki films to show through. Miyazaki continues his winning streak.
While young kids will enjoy this film and should enoy this film any way they can, everybody who is comfortably literate should watch this film in Japanese with English subtitles. As the overaggressive dub removes much of the subtlety and reality that makes the original film special. Through no fault of the late, great Phil Hartman, who does an admirable, yet decidedly different, interpretation of Jiji, it's the script he was given that does occasionally hurt the film unfortunately. And as talented as Kirsten Dunst may or may not be, she does NOT fit the role as Kiki! As the once very real girl Kiki seems to have been turned into an occasional shrieky bubbly girl who sounds about 10 years older then she looks. Do yourself a favor, watch it in Japanese.
This is a film that people of all ages will enjoy. Yes I am going to use that hopelessly cliche line, because unlike your average 30-50 movie reviewer who has lost touch with the every age group, and is just trying to speak for the target audience, I'm a 19 year old American male who also liked such violent "cool" blood and F-word filled flicks such as Die Hard and The Rock, and looking at it like that, if I can like this film, then it's a safe bet that "people of all ages" all really can enjoy too. |
| For Kids of All Ages |
|
| written by ggsuperhero |
April 21, 2003 - 1:04 PM PDT |
|
7 out of 8 members found this review helpful
|
| Kiki's Delivery Service is a heart-warming movie for kids of all ages. I am especially very fond of Kiki's cat, Jiji, who I think has the coolest and sometimes laugh out loud lines in this anime. I also liked the fact that Kiki does not entirely rely on her witch's powers to get out of difficult situations which lets us humans relate to her. I really enjoyed watching this movie as well the other Miyazaki titles! |
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.