Castle in the Sky

3/4

Starring (voices): James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman, Jim Cummings

Rated PG for Fantasy Action Violence and Peril

As I was purchasing some DVDs today, including Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro," I got talking with the cashier at Best Buy.  He was talking about Miyazaki and how underrated he is, and when describing him, I finished, "[He's] a master."  The cashier emphatically agreed.

"Castle in the Sky" is Hayao Miyazaki's steampunk adventure.  It's got action, flying machines, pirates, a villain afflicted with megalomania, a plucky hero and heroine, and a lost city.  Yup, you guessed it, this movie is right up my alley.

Orphaned teen Pazu (Van Der Beek) has long dreamed of the legendary floating city Laputa.  His father saw it when he was caught in a storm, but no one believed him.  Then one night when he's fetching dinner for his boss, he spots something falling from the sky.  It turns out that it's a young girl.  Taking her back to his house and nursing her back to health, she tells him that her name is Sheeta (Paquin).  Sheeta, as it turns out, was kidnapped by the army, and escaped after they were attacked by pirates.  The Army was after a crystal that she wears around her neck (this is what caused her to fall slowly to earth instead of landing with a splat).  Now she and Pazu must stay away from the army, especially their leader, a mysterious man named Muska (Hamill), long enough to find Laputa and uncover its secrets.

As is usual for a Miyazaki film, the dubbing for the film is quite good.  James Van Der Beek is perfect as the hero, Pazu.  His energy and optimism is infectious, and it takes just one word of dialogue from him to get behind him.  Anna Paquin, an exceptional actress who is never in enough movies, is very good as Sheeta, the smart but vulnerable princess.  Mark Hamill is menacing as Muska, who has his own motives for finding Laputa, although no one is going to confuse him with Hannibal Lecter (this is, after all, a kid's movie).  Cloris Leachman is an interesting case.  The first time I saw the movie, her voice acting irritated me so much that it nearly tanked the movie for me.  This time around, I'm more sympathetic.  I think she does a solid job as the pirate Dola, who also wants to find the floating city.

"Castle in the Sky" has had an interesting production history.  Made in 1986, it was dubbed in the late 80's for international flights to Japan.  Streamline Pictures distributed this dub, although they did not produce it.  Who was behind that remains a mystery, apparently.  In any event, Disney produced another dub in 1998 and planned to release it to video the next year, however they decided to release it theatrically first.  But when "Princess Mononoke" flopped (due to lackluster marketing and the fact that it was shown in very few theaters), the release was pushed back and back and back until it was shown at a few children's film festivals and then released on DVD and video alongside "Kiki's Delivery Service" (another Miyazaki film, although I haven't seen it) and "Spirited Away."

The film bears a remarkable similarity to the floating city (also named Laputa) in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."  I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on how much of the book made it into the film.  That being said, the film has a wonderful sense of imagination and wonder.  In some ways, this is a spectacle, and unlike Miyazaki's other films, it demands to be seen on as big of a screen as possible.

But the film is definitely not one of Miyazaki's stronger efforts.  The plot isn't as complex (although it's not predictable), and the sense of magic that was so powerful in "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke" is diluted here.  It is a lot of fun, and I do recommend it.  Kids will love it, perhaps even more than the adults.  But I can't help feeling let down, if only slightly.

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