The movie poster. In JAPANESE!!
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This is the most uneven blog post I have ever written. It is probably more complicated than the movie. I understand if you get really confused by this blog post.
About two weeks ago, my friend showed me a Studio Ghibli film called Tales from Earthsea, a movie directed by Goro Miyazaki (the famed Hayao Miyazaki's son) - based on the Earthsea book series written by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Now, I'm a Studio Ghibli fan and I've seen many of their films, like Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, and part of Kiki's Delivery Service and The Cat Returns. I really want to see The Secret World of Arriety.
I must note that I have never read the Earthsea series and so I've no real knowledge on how the plot really goes in the books, but I kind of have a good understanding of the confusing and convoluted plot. I saw Tales from Earthsea with three friends: one of whom has read the whole series, one of whom has already seen the movie, and the other one hasn't seen the movie or read the books - like me.
I'll refer to the guy that read the book as Guy, and the one who has already seen the movie as Buddy, and the one who never saw the movie at all as Brudda (And if you're wondering where I came up with Brudda, it's from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Gorons refer to other Gorons as "bruddas" - sounds like "brother", right? I thought so.)
Now then...
SPOILER ALERT
Now that we've gotten that out of the way... The movie opens up with some sailors just chillin' on a ship in the middle of a storm. It begins pouring rain and one of the crew members rant about how crappy the weather is but then, all of a sudden two random dragons come out of nowhere and begin fighting each other. One dragon loses the battle and well... dies.
Then that scene ends. Afterwards a king inside a castle begins talking about how unusual it is to see dragons in their land (since they're not usually there) and how the kingdom is in a state of peril. He rambles on about how terrible the conditions are there and all of a sudden, without any explanation, some kid runs up and kills him with a sword in the scene after that. Oh wait. Actually, it was the scabbard of the sword (you know, where you put the sword in some kind of long tube-like thing) that he used to kill the king with. Apparently it is revealed that the kid was his son. Then the son steals his sword.
It's never really clear on why he killed the king. And by the way, the kid's name is Arren. Arren is kind of like a wanderer - akin to the main character from Princess Mononoke - except Arren's got really bad character development. His personality and his background are never really explained, and when attempts are made to justify his character traits, they fall flat on their face.
At several points in the beginning of the story, Arren's personality changes from a carefree boy to like a cold-hearted jerk. In one scene he sees this girl that is about to become a slave, and when Arren comes to "rescue" her (he sees her inside a wagon full of other imprisoned female to-be slaves earlier in the movie), a man who threatens to kill her says he will if Arren doesn't back off.
And Arren's like, "Go ahead"- with a menacing-looking face with really weird distorted eyes complete with a creepy smile. This is quite unlike him when he's in the middle of a desert in the scene right after he kills his father, the king - and he's almost nearly defenseless when encountered by savage wolves (well, he's got his sword, but for some reason the movie doesn't explain on why he can't draw it until the end, right when the movie is just barely beginning to make sense). Then some dude wearing a hood saves him, named Sparrowhawk, who is a magician. And Sparrowhawk saves the day!
Problem is, Sparrowhawk doesn't have good character development either. In fact, he's almost worse than Arren. You never get to know why he cares for Arren in the first place and he just doesn't seem to be very appealing at all. The character development is just so bad that you barely feel anything for the characters. It just makes you not want to care about the characters at all until the final stretch of the movie.
About the girl that Arren was going to save, he does save her from the slave traders. However she shows a lot of hostility towards him since he made that "Go ahead" line. After saying that he beats up all of the men instead of the main slave trader and so lets the girl go. Arren later learns that her name is Therru. Therru works on a farm with Sparrowhawk's friend, Tenar - she manages the farm.
After singing a song that is not even memorable and has almost no effect on the storyline, she magically, suddenly puts her trust in Arren after he cries after hearing her song. This scene builds the awkward foundation for their affections for each other. It really gives you a bitter feeling of how this just doesn't work out.
"Therru's the only good character in this movie and is the only character that actually has any good character development." - Brudda
Yeah, this is really true. Therru's the only character that you get to even care about, since she's the only character that isn't dull (next to the main slave trader, who appears several times in the film and provides comic relief).
Then there's the real bad guy.
"Wait... that's a GUY?!" - Me
This is the absolute weirdest bad guy I've ever seen in a Studio Ghibli film. Especially on how he - or it - looks like a female, but is a male. He's got long hair, pale skin, femenistic eyes, and wears what seems to be lipstick or something. I don't have a picture of him, but his name is Lord Cob. And he makes the lamest attempts of being an antagonist.
Apparently Lord Cob wants to know the secret to eternal life. Problem is, he never really does anything to try to get it. Later in the movie, he captures Arren and like Yubaba from Spirited Away, controls people by knowing their first name.
"Does knowing Arren's name even help Lord Cob get eternal life?!" - Buddy
No, it doesn't. Not at all. That's what makes that part in the movie so pointless.
Anyways, after that part, Sparrowhawk realizes that Lord Cob has sent the leader of the slave traders to attack the farm where Tenar and Therru work at to lure him into coming to his pitiful castle. Once Sparrowhawk learns that Arren and Tenar has been taken to the castle, he goes there and frees Therru. He tells her to stay there and goes to save Arren by himself.
Therru follows shortly after Sparrowhawk leaves and tries to save Arren and Tenar as well. It all ends up with Sparrowhawk getting beaten by Lord Cob's unimpressive magical powers and him getting rescued by Therru and Arren.
And it's only now that Arren draws his sword and kills Lord Cob's guards. Still no explanation for it. And have you realized that the role of the dragons in the beginning of the film haven't any effect on the story until now - like thirty minutes before the end?
"Was that even in the book?" - Guy
Um... I don't know. Anyways, Lord Cob is stopped eventually by the good guys and Arren realizes that Therru turns into a dragon to save everyone. Pretty confusing, but it probably is confusing since my summary of the whole movie is just garbage. And yeah, Lord Cob dies after Therru turns into a dragon and kills him.
To put it short, don't see the movie - I wouldn't recommend it. You can watch it if you want, but it is the worst Studio Ghibli film in my opinion. In fact, it's pretty much the only bad Studio Ghibli film I've seen.
The movie doesn't explain anything on why Therru turns into a dragon, why Sparrowhawk saved Arren in the first place, and why Arren and Therru's relationship is so awkward.
I don't even know if this was supposed to be a review or a summary of a movie. But this is what I tend to do when writing blogs - I just seem to go on and on and ramble about stuff. But hey - what's a blog for, to have fun, right?
Anyways, NightFox313 signing off. Peace.
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