| RELEASE DATE | RUNTIME | IMDB | ROTTENTOMATOES | METACRITIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8th, 2023 | 2hr 4m | 7.6 | 97% | 92 |
Premise:
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Director(s):
Hayao Miyazaki
Writer(s):
Hayao Miyazaki
| JAPANESE VOICE CAST | ENGLISH VOICE CAST | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soma Santoki | … | Luca Padovan | … | Mahito Maki (voice) |
| Masaki Suda | … | Robert Pattinson | … | The Grey Heron (voice) |
| Takuya Kimura | … | Christian Bale | … | Shoichi Maki (voice) |
| Aimyon | … | Karen Fukuhara (as Lady Himi) | … | Himi (voice) |
| Kô Shibasaki | … | Florence Pugh | … | Kiriko (voice) |
| Yoshino Kimura | … | Gemma Chan | … | Natsuko (voice) |
| Shohei Hino | … | Mark Hamill (as Granduncle) | … | Great-Uncle (voice) |
| Jun Kunimura | … | Dave Bautista | … | The Parakeet King (voice) |
| Kaoru Kobayashi | … | Willem Dafoe (as Noble Pelican) | … | Old Pelican (voice) |
From a visual perspective it was great but It kind of went over the head from a story perspective. Based on the reactions from the theater at the end everyone there felt the same. Someone help me please.
spoiler
Spoilers: Like what was the reason his aunt was in the chamber? Why did the heron make a fake version of his mom? What was the parakeets deal with capturing Hime just to drop her off and not make any demands. If his uncle wanted him there why were the sentient things so hostile toward him? What was the deal with the baby souls if this whole place was fiction?
I found this Reddit comment that I think explains the movie pretty well. I agree it can go over your head easy but this makes the most sense to me and is closest to how I felt about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/189iju6/the_boy_and_the_heron_is_beautiful_and/kbtzvns/
It did explain one bit which I knew had to be some Japanese folklore I didn’t know. The rest I dk. I agree the overall plot is simple, it’s just the details I do not understand and felt there must be more back story from folklore or something which took away from the experience. Other Gibli movies like ponyo or howls moving castle didn’t leave me as confused on why they chose to show the audience something.