The animation was beautiful (although I'd have liked to have seen more detail on the character faces) and the fleeing sequence with the music was so dramatic. The problem was it's pace, length and depth. This and the fact Kaguya wasn't made particularly likeable made it quite a flat and plain all round experience.
Sorry you didn't like it, but that's the thing about movies, there is no single film that everyone will love. For me, I had no issues with it's pace, found it to have wonderful depth, and I never felt the film was going too long. I also found Kaguya to be the most likable character in the movie, but we're both free to make our own individual perceptions.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll definitely be watching it again at some point in the future for the animation.
shareI agree with you about the length. It was about a half hour too long.
shareYou nailed it. It's beautiful in every way, to the eyes, but the pacing was downright dreadful. The first 20-30 minutes is fun, as she's growing, but once she leaves her village, it's a complete bore. I truly wanted to like it, but I also found the voices irritating. If they'd made the film 80-90 minutes, instead of over two hours, I think I would have liked it much more.
shareNo, you didn't want to like it or you would have done so. The movie did nothing wrong and the run time was rather conservative in the long run. Sorry you didn't like it either, but you and the OP are still wrong.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
This is one of my favorite films of all time, but the sequence with the suitors should have been shortened a bit in my opinion.
shareNo, you didn't want to like it or you would have done so.
Sorry, my statement was probably an overreaction. It's just that "I wanted to like it" is one of those phrases that's kind of a pet peeve of mine.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
I used to feel the same way. Until I saw Man of Steel. As a life-long Superman fan, I went in with positive feelings wanting to at least enjoy it, if not love it.
Sadly, the whole movie left me really disappointed. My desire to enjoy it could not trump how bad it was put together.
Let's be bad guys.
It's just that "I wanted to like it" is one of those phrases that's kind of a pet peeve of mine.
For the animation, I think it is intended to be less detailed , the story is very old - somewhere in the 11th - 12th century - so, I guess, the idea was to make it different from other Ghibli movies which come in other time periods.
As for Kaguya, well, she is not a Disney princess :) ... as it happened in Howl's Moving Castle, another Ghibli Studios movie, where the heroine turns an old woman for most of the time, probably they like to challenge our expectations.
Yes, it was way too long and I was slowly losing patience with it until the Moon people came. 2+ hours is way too much to re-tell a simple traditional tale. It's not a bad movie though, the animation is absolutely stunning.
shareThis is a clear case of different strokes... - I actually loved Kaguya so much that, as I was watching today some scenes of Ghost in the Shell, featuring probably my most favorite female character of all time, I was constantly reminded of the Princess.
Same thing about pace and length - I was not even planning to watch the whole movie, since it was very late in the night when I started it, but it kept me glued to the screen until the end. But it did so because I empathized with Kaguya the whole time, so I can see why, if you don't like her, you won't feel engaged.
But I don't see the complaint about depth - I thought it touched on some very complex and important themes, such as the nature of Nirvana vs earthly experience, the nature of human affection vs respect for the norms, and I'm still trying to understand why she had to kill her happiness and humanity twice - once by leaving for the Moon, and twice, before that, by becoming a princess.
Regardless of this, I'd also add a lot of narrative complexity to the fantastic animation as another big plus for this movie. And the (Japanese) voice acting was fantastic too - the way Kaguya's seiyuu changed the depth and resonance of her voice when switching to Princess-tone was quite remarkable.
there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above her shoulder
The pacing really does tries one's patience if one isn't used to it. I personally loved the film and thought it was one of the best animated films I've seen, but I also am not offended or can disagree it some people didn't take to it.
share