Review of The Secret World of Arrietty

Beautifully done in terms of art and music (just a bit forgettable), some characters are nice but most are kinda forgettable. The biggest mistake of this Ghibli was its envy to be both light-hearted and complicated without proper execution. First the story felt very long and even agonising at times and too fast/rushed in other (especially thhe end), the pacing felt off. I'm always mesmerized and very much emotionnal when it comes to the world building and its structures in Ghibli : I loved their little house and the intricate pathways they use. Nevertheless : appart from that the rest is pretty bland, which is not necesserily badin most cases but in this movie it made everything outside just non-interesting.

The story was clearly the weakest point of the movie, the theme was simple but not really well put in place and not developped enough, it stayed too immature in my opinion.

In general, I'd say it's my least favourite of the best ghiblis.