Julian P Lee

In all sincerity, Wonderland has to be one of my favourite movies of all time. This might seem like a stretch, but I can barely think of anything that this movie failed to do well in. Nearly everything about this movie exceeded my expectations; The colour grading, the cinematography, the acting, the sound design and the storytelling were each brilliant in their own right. Together, they created a dream of movie and a real work of art. I feel this movie’s greatest strength is its heart. It tenderly presents a faithful reflection of joys and struggles that many ordinary people would experience, making it deeply relatable. The emotional depth of the movie is tastefully balanced by moments of humour and lightness sprinkled throughout the film. Crying is highly likely, but so is plenty of laughter. I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie to everyone. It is a marvel… and a wonder.

If I had to pick 3 words to describe this film, they would be ‘Strange’, ‘Fantastical’ & ‘Nebulous’. In comparison to many of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, The Boy and the Heron has to be one of his less straightforward tales. The animation is gorgeous and features some of the most riveting scenes I have ever seen in animation. However, I found the plot more difficult to appreciate. The story is a wild, careening trail that seems to loop back and around itself. Trying to comprehend the plot felt like trying to untangle a complex knot. It is unclear to me if the plot is this way by design. After the film, I left the theatre perplexed and pensive, unsure of what to make of the film’s narrative. That being said, even with its tangled storyline, I deeply appreciated The Boy and the Heron for its delightful mix of sublime animation, artful cinematography and its transcendent quality. I will be back to rewatch this film, and I might even go for a third screening. It’s not every day Master Miyazaki releases a new film and I intend to soak it in.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this movie, but unfortunately, watching it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. The graphics were not life-like at all, but reminded me far more uncannily to video game graphics. The dialogue was unpolished and crudely written. I felt like a 16 year old was made to write the lines in this film for their homework. Plot-wise, this movie is a terrific mess. The plot seems to stumble around aimlessly, like a drunkard who can’t find their way back home. I respect that the film helped to raise the audience’s awareness of environmental injustice and cruelty against animals. However, personally I felt little connection to the planet in the film or the animals simply because everything felt so plastic and artificial. It is unfortunate that such a high-budget film could turn out so badly. I would strongly recommend giving this film a miss. As another reviewer pointed out, it’s not ‘the way of water’ but it’s ‘the way of waste’ — that is, a really grand way to waste one’s time.