Porco Rosso
3/4
Starring (voices): Michael Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Suan Egan, Cary Elwes, David Ogden Stiers, Brad Garrett
Rated PG for Violence and Some Mild Language
"Porco Rosso" opens up with a scene that defies description. However, let me try. A flying ace with the face and body of a pig, Porco Rosso (Keaton), gets a desperate call: a gang of air pirates has robbed a cruise ship of a sizable amount of gold and taken 15 schoolgirls as hostages. The girls think this is just the coolest thing ever, and raise hell on the pirates' plane. But the pirates are nothing more than big old softies, believing it wouldn't be right to separate the girls from their friends. And when all is said and done, the girls bid their captors a fond farewell.
Only Miyazaki could get away with this. The Japanese filmmaker does not know the meaning of cynicism, so only in his world would it make sense to turn the act of being attacked by pirates into a spectator sport (there's even an announcer that introduces the pirates and the pilots trying to stop them). If only the movie's plot had continued to operate at this level.
The film's real story is about Porco Rosso. A pilot hero from World War I, he has become a bounty hunter who for unknown reasons was turned into a pig. Despite his appearance, he is loved from afar by Gina (Egan), the owner/singer at a local dive frequented by sea pirates. He loves her too, if only he had the courage to admit it. He is so successful at humiliating the local sky pirate gangs that they have hired an American named Carter (Elwes) to take him down. Porco is defeated, albeit temporarily, and when he goes to Italy for repairs to his plane, he meets Fio (Williams-Paisley), the plucky genius who is the granddaughter of his engineer. But a rematch between Porco and Carter is inevitable. And the Italian fascists want Porco to fly for them, and will do anything to achieve that goal.
One thing that holds this movie back is the flat portrayal of the title character. For whatever reason, Michael Keaton decides to underplay the role to the point where he speaks in a monotonous mutter. That makes it difficult to care about him, particularly when his supporting cast is top notch. It's almost unheard of for a Studio Ghibli movie to make such a colassal mistake on the voice acting front, but Keaton deals a serious blow to the film. Kimberly Williams-Paisley is a natural performer, giving Fio an effortless spunk that makes her endearing. Susan Egan is either miscast or misdirected; Gina isn't as appealing as she should be. And Cary Elwes makes for a totally arrogant doofus.
Aside from the problems with the voice acting, "Porco Rosso" lacks any real plot. It's never boring and there's always something going on, but there's no real narrative drive to push us from beginning to end. Miyazaki has, as always, plenty of ideas, but in this case he doesn't find a successful way to use them. Still, there are more than a few moments that are worth seeing the entire film for on their own.
I would be lying if I said that "Porco Rosso" was a bad film. It isn't. Far from it in fact. It has heaps of the trademark Miyazaki charm and humor, beautiful images, and some spectacular flying sequences. I just wish that it had been brought together in a more interesting fashion.
Starring (voices): Michael Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Suan Egan, Cary Elwes, David Ogden Stiers, Brad Garrett
Rated PG for Violence and Some Mild Language
"Porco Rosso" opens up with a scene that defies description. However, let me try. A flying ace with the face and body of a pig, Porco Rosso (Keaton), gets a desperate call: a gang of air pirates has robbed a cruise ship of a sizable amount of gold and taken 15 schoolgirls as hostages. The girls think this is just the coolest thing ever, and raise hell on the pirates' plane. But the pirates are nothing more than big old softies, believing it wouldn't be right to separate the girls from their friends. And when all is said and done, the girls bid their captors a fond farewell.
Only Miyazaki could get away with this. The Japanese filmmaker does not know the meaning of cynicism, so only in his world would it make sense to turn the act of being attacked by pirates into a spectator sport (there's even an announcer that introduces the pirates and the pilots trying to stop them). If only the movie's plot had continued to operate at this level.
The film's real story is about Porco Rosso. A pilot hero from World War I, he has become a bounty hunter who for unknown reasons was turned into a pig. Despite his appearance, he is loved from afar by Gina (Egan), the owner/singer at a local dive frequented by sea pirates. He loves her too, if only he had the courage to admit it. He is so successful at humiliating the local sky pirate gangs that they have hired an American named Carter (Elwes) to take him down. Porco is defeated, albeit temporarily, and when he goes to Italy for repairs to his plane, he meets Fio (Williams-Paisley), the plucky genius who is the granddaughter of his engineer. But a rematch between Porco and Carter is inevitable. And the Italian fascists want Porco to fly for them, and will do anything to achieve that goal.
One thing that holds this movie back is the flat portrayal of the title character. For whatever reason, Michael Keaton decides to underplay the role to the point where he speaks in a monotonous mutter. That makes it difficult to care about him, particularly when his supporting cast is top notch. It's almost unheard of for a Studio Ghibli movie to make such a colassal mistake on the voice acting front, but Keaton deals a serious blow to the film. Kimberly Williams-Paisley is a natural performer, giving Fio an effortless spunk that makes her endearing. Susan Egan is either miscast or misdirected; Gina isn't as appealing as she should be. And Cary Elwes makes for a totally arrogant doofus.
Aside from the problems with the voice acting, "Porco Rosso" lacks any real plot. It's never boring and there's always something going on, but there's no real narrative drive to push us from beginning to end. Miyazaki has, as always, plenty of ideas, but in this case he doesn't find a successful way to use them. Still, there are more than a few moments that are worth seeing the entire film for on their own.
I would be lying if I said that "Porco Rosso" was a bad film. It isn't. Far from it in fact. It has heaps of the trademark Miyazaki charm and humor, beautiful images, and some spectacular flying sequences. I just wish that it had been brought together in a more interesting fashion.
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