Spirted Away....boring?

[Daniel Shock]

Did anyone else find this to be boring? I REALLY liked Princess Mononoke. I just could not get into Sprited Away. In fact I didn't finish it...

[MoonSka0]

I would respectfully disagree. I felt that it kept my attention throughout the entire film. To each their own though

[boddah]

Castle in the Sky is still my favorite, but I didn't think Spirited Away was boring at all. I guess it's a little slower than some other Miyazaki flicks action wise, but it still has a great story.

[Prancer]

I didn't think it was boring. I like the pacing. It was full of wonderful characters and surprises. It was good but my favorite so far has to be Kiki's Delivery Service. It was so beautiful. I am looking forward to watching that again.

I did try to watch Spirited Away again with the English track and it was weird so I stopped it. It's bizarre to hear those characters speaking English because I always picture(haha) them as Japanese speaking.

[Version]

Interesting. I thought Spirited Away was so intriguing. The pacing was so well done that I found myself surprised when two hours had gone by.

[C Roberts]

The movie feels a little long as it approaches the end, but the story was good. I like Mononoke and Cagliostro better.

[optimalautobot]

i agree with you D.S. (i will probably be the only one)

but i felt that spirited away was too long, and pretty boring to boot. i didnt find the movie that interesting or full of wonderful visuals and characters. i just found it odd and quite strange.

i did not really enjoy princess mononoke that much either (i was a little overhyped for it) although i did like it more than spirited away.

[CrazyComet]

Originally posted by Daniel Shock
Did anyone else find this to be boring? I REALLY liked Princess Mononoke. I just could not get into Sprited Away. In fact I didn't finish it...

Just the opposite here. I really liked Spirited Away and didn't care for Princess Mononoke......

[Daniel Shock]

one thing I liked about both movies was that the evil characters didn't seem to be TOTALLY evil. Although, since I didn't finish Sprited Away, I couldn't say for sure.

[Musashi74]

I think that's true of many of Miyazaki's films. He very often presents antagonists that aren't simply evil, they just have goals that conflict with the protagonist. Very unique, especially when you contrast it with many Disney films, which present their characters with simplistic 'evil' baddies to fight.

[videoworx]

my 7 year-old daughter can watch this movie over and over - and she doesn't have a very good attention span. I didn't think she would be able to sit through it, but I was happily proven wrong. She could NOT, however, sit through Laputia (Castle in the Sky), although I think it's geared more to a slightly older audience. She loves Warriors of the Wind (I know, how dare she! give her a break, she's 7 and can't read subtitles at lightning speed).

as for me, I think Spirited Away is f*cking awesome...there are so many little moments in this film that get me...when Chihiro is on the train, she looks out the window at one of the train stops, and you can see the ghost of a little girl waiting for someone...it's things like THAT you don't see in Disney movies...

[pdjennings]

If you thought Spirited Away was boring... I think we need to get a medic over to your place ASAP to make sure you're still breathing.

[moviezzz]

I thought that SPIRITED AWAY could have used some editing. It was very slow in parts. I remember seeing it in the theatre and at times, being unable to keep my eyes open.

The second half was paced a lot better though. It really picked up by then.

[moviezzz]

Let me add that I do like Miyazaki and consider KIKI to be one of the best animated films of all time.

That said, I didn't think SPIRITED was as good.

[Daniel Shock]

Maybe I was in the wrong mood for it. I was home from work - sick. I had watched almost the entire 1st season of Six Feet Under, then I decided to change pace and watch Sprited Away. Its possible I was DVD'd out.

:p

[Kevinduran]

I'm not really a big fan of animation (at least new or current animation)- but I had read so many good things about "Spirited Away", so I just bought it without even having seen it before. I'm not sorry at all.

I LOVED it. I sort of forgot I was even watching an animated feature.

[sub780lime]

i would give it another try, your mood might affect how you felt because i would agree it is slow at times but i didnt feel the movie was boring, i really enjoyed it

[C Roberts]

I recently heard Spirited Away described as "Alice in Wonderland on Crack!". I agree with this description.

[TheDarkling]

Well, it's one of my favorite movies so obviously I didn't find it boring. I will say, though, that I enjoyed it a lot more when I understood some of the mythology and connections to Japanese culture in it. I'm not saying that you need to do extensive research or something in order to like it, but a little knowledge might make the viewing experience more enjoyable. Then again, maybe it's just not your cup of tea. There are plenty of movies lots of people like that I don't.

[citizen]

I was a bit bored as well during Spirited Away. And this from someone who totally adores My Neighbor Totoro, a much slower film with barely any action.

I think SA just didn't draw me in. I was a bit put off that Chihiro didn't ask many questions. I guess I can't relate to pre-teen girls from other cultures.

"My parents just turned into pigs... I better get a job!"

Wacky.


citizen

[Locke_]

It was a lot stranger than what I expected. I wasn't necesarily bored with it. I was...

Weirded Away

Laputa is my fave and I own all of Miyazaki's 2-disc DVDs and Mononoke.

[Naminator]

I don't really get why people say Spirited Away is the best Miyazaki film... I found both Princess Monokome and Laputa (My personal favorite) to be leagues ahead of it.

Spirited Away was still an amazing film, though. It didn't feel very focused at parts, and a 10-line story climax didn't really help. The film did drag at certain points, too, which is probably why you found it so boring. I can definitely see what you mean.

Where I found all of the good stuff was from the simply amazing metaphors placed throughout the story (No Face - PURE GENIUS), the amazing visuals (The lighting in this film is some of the greatest I've ever witnessed, and it's animated to boot!), and the musical score.

When Chihiro, No Face and the animals are riding in that train while sailing off the edge of the water... my God. That scene almost made me cry from such beauty.

The way the water rippled off of the train and casted the waves aside, while the spirits inside got off each station with their heads down, grabbing their baggage (Another clever metaphor about the everyday businessmen of our world), that was just amazing. What really stood out, though, was the music.

I bought the soundtrack CD just for that song.

But yeah... it did drag in a few parts. Story was a bit unfocused. But the passion that was put into the film really came out and gave the film a life of its own, and it sure as hell beats any of the current-day shit that Disney's been putting out the last little while.

[Locke_]

Originally posted by Naminator

When Chihiro, No Face and the animals are riding in that train while sailing off the edge of the water... my God. That scene almost made me cry from such beauty.

The way the water rippled off of the train and casted the waves aside, while the spirits inside got off each station with their heads down, grabbing their baggage (Another clever metaphor about the everyday businessmen of our world), that was just amazing. What really stood out, though, was the music.

Up until those scenes, I was ready to give up on the movie. But, yes, those scenes were beautiful in every aspect possible.

[Oscar Antonio M]

I really liked this movie, even though i didnt find it as entrhalling as Mononoke i still loved the movie and its one of my favorites of all time now.

But its a packed 2-hour movie, there's so much stuff in it that by the time you finish you could feel tired. But there's so many things i loved about it, the story, the screenplay, animation and i could actually feel for the characters. Miyazaki did it again too bad he has to retire.

[Monterey Jack]

This was my second-favorite film of 2002 (after Minority Report). Yeah, from an American point of view, the film may seem "slow" from a story standpoint, but the visuals are so transfixing that I wasn't bored for a second. A gorgeous movie.

[Dehrian]

I didn't find it boring in the slightest. In fact, I was fascinated all the way through. I never felt that I knew what was going to happen next, and felt the animation was extraordinary. I've since watched Castle in the Sky, but still prefer Spirited Away. I think it's one of the best animated films I've ever seen.

[chrisp450]

Boring? Nooooo.
I loved it. Have been wanting to rewatch it a few times already (but have too much else to catch up on). I really enjoyed it, as well as Castle in the Sky. Princess Mononoke was the first anime I saw, and it is what drew me in (then Cowboy Bebop hooked me).

Every Miyazaki I have seen so far I have loved. (This is the order I saw them in: Mononoke, Castle of Cagliostro, Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky.)