Mini Film Review – The Boy And The Heron

Last night I saw The Boy and The Heron; and it was alright! Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and starring Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, and Karen Fukuhara; The Boy and The Heron, is a Japanese Anime film, and the latest feature production by Studio Ghibli. Set during the Pacific War, a young boy loses his mother in a hospital fire, and moves with his father to the countryside, where he meets a rather strangely acting Grey Heron. The film feels like an artistic departure for Hayao Miyazaki, as he has often used the idea of flight, and flying machines in his films. Here there are none of those things, but there are some birds, which for the most part are portrayed as rather malevolent creatures, which just feels odd for a Miyazaki piece. The film doesn’t really tell much of a story. There is content there yes, but; unlike his other films, it takes time for the adventure to begin, and there is possibly a bit too much setup. And then once the adventure begins, you are both lost in the beauty of the animation and artwork, and also lost by the plot, as, well, it’s less of a story, more of a slide show/experience. The whole film just comes across as a director producing a greatest hits album. All the works are here, just not much of an understandable story to delve deep into. It does have it’s silly and funny bits, including nearly every scene featuring a Parakeet; but, it’s just a run down of niche moments from other films, or a slide show of work, just for the sake of producing one more film…which is rather sad!