>>41532I remember the first Hayao Miyazaki film I wanted to see in theaters was Spirited Away. It was surely around 2002, fresh from its Oscar win, but I obviously only ended up seeing it a few years later on DVD. Since then the only Ghibli film I ever really saw in theaters was Secret World of Arriety, which was all right for the most bit. But yeah, pretty much every other Ghibli film I never really saw on the big screen.
Until now.
Sure it was worth it, but let's just say it was (ridiculously) almost as hard to access as the original Nosferatu last year, and that one was in the public domain (I technically had to sneek in despite at least REMEMBERING the code for the prepaid ticket I nearly lost access to). But I watched it, and so did millions of other people, so I'm sure a tiny percentage of them can give you a better opinion on it than I can (ESPECIALLY now that I've seen every Miyazaki film ever). What I can certainly say, however, is that watching one of his films for the first time on a larger screen leaves the kind of impression you'll probably never feel again even if you have a TV that takes up a width of your walls. Part Moebius, Part Tolkien light, part Pan's Labyrinth, there was even a scene involving a church-like interior which stretched a dozen stories high that had that classicly epic pre-Y2K aura which gives you a special kind of nostalgia that is harder to find nowadays. The rest of the film, however, is meh-ish compared to Miyazaki's more epic masterpieces. It has its moments, but at its best, it's as if the witch that cursed Porco Rosso cursed another guy into an egret and is essentially your guide to a cinematic greatest Miyazaki hits collection.
So I can see why some have had mixed opinions, but in a post-Made in Abyss world, I'd still say Miyazaki still had enough tricks up his sleeve to fill at least another film if not one more. And who knows, maybe time will allow us all to digest it a little better as has been the case with his previous works.
9/10.