Tales From Earthsea Review
Voices: Timothy Dalton, Mariska Hargitay, Matt Levin, Cheech Marin and Willen Dafoe. Dir: Goro Miyazaki Rating: 3/5
Prince Arren is filled with darkness and is taken under the wing of Sparrowhawk, his magician mentor, after Arren runs away from his home after killing his father the King.
Sparrowhawk is a wanderer who is searching for the ecological imbalance that is causing all of the crops to fail.
But evil is at work in the land of Earthsea at the hand of Cobb, who is searching for everlasting life and believes he has found it in Prince Arren.
Tales From Earthsea is the latest offering from Studio Ghibli and is an adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea saga.
In recent years Studio Ghibli, lead by director Hayao Miyazaki, has enjoyed more mainstream success with the likes of Spirited Away, which won an Oscar for Best Animated Film, and Howl's Moving Castle, which was nominated for Best Animated Film, breaking through to a western audience.
With Tales From Earthsea Goro Miyazaki takes over from his father Hayao, who has been responsible for producing some of the finest animation in recent years.
There are plenty Ghibli hallmarks present in this film such as the environmental balance and the struggles with the darkness within the lead character.
As always it's visually stunning as the realisation of hort Town is beautifully brought to life, giving it the undeniable stamp of Studio Ghibli.
But unlike many Ghibli movies before it Tales From Earthsea lacked the tradition images and consequences of war and the very strong female lead that have been so common over the years including Princess Mononoke,Nausicca and Chihiro from Spirited Away.
The plot however is laboured and in places a little dull, with action coming in fits and starts. As the film progresses the plot does become muggled and slightly over complicated.
While it's obvious that Goro is his father's son, in the style in which he has made this film, this is a picture that should be in your Studio Ghibli collection. However Goro Miyazaki, at the moment, doesn't hold a flame to his father's work but his future looks very promising.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw