Review of Castle in the Sky

My mind played a trick on me, convincing me I watched this when I was a child. Guess I was wrong (or I really can’t remember it at all). So before reading this review please note that there is no nostalgia involved which will clearly affect my rating as well. Animation 7/10 As expected from Studio Ghibli movies the art is beautiful and makes you feel like you entered a completely different world. However, compared to other Ghibli movies I watched, it seems to lack in some aspects. It’s still beautiful and lovely. Especially considering the time this movie was made. I’m sure it wasa milestone for future movies in many aspects.

Story 6/10
I can really see the appeal this movie had for many people and that it was ahead of its time. So a part of me understands why it’s so popular and beloved among anime fans. That being said… For as much as it was hyped to watch it I’d have expected more and ended up being disappointed when it comes to the plot. With most of these movies they appeal of course to children but watching them as an adult makes you view them from a different perspective, making them as intriguing (if not even more). That’s what makes a good children’s movie or book. If it can still be enjoyed by an older audience. Not implying it’s a bad story but personally I felt it wasn’t really captivating. So in itself the story was rather average. Girl who is special because of her roots, a mystic artifact many people are after and two orphans who bond during their adventure and develop a beautiful friendship. Which is really nice but unfortunately the most focus of this story was on the chasing as well as on the more “action” loaded scenes, making the story weaker than it could have been without that (or at least a little less chasing). Like I’ve mentioned before I have no nostalgia for this movie so I’d probably feel different about it if I had. But to me it’s more for kids than for adults who enjoy anime (and this comes form someone who absolutely loves fairytales and even some kids shows. To be fair towards most of them I still feel very nostalgic). My point is that I don’t really get the hype this movie got in the past while at the same time I kind of understand. At least when it comes to personal attachment you have to something you watched in the past (sorry if this doesn’t make any sense to you). The time-frame in which it was set was also a little confusing to me. On one hand it seemed to play in the past and then we had Sci-Fi elements which I wish would have been explored a little bit more (but I guess that was simply to show how different and advanced people from Laputa were).

Characters 6/10
Except for the pirates maybe, most of the characters seemed rather blank to me. And while I liked Pazu and Sheeta as well as their friendship, they didn’t seem fleshed out enough. At least for being the main characters. Pazu had a little more depth because what I could really appreciate about him was the fact that in the beginning he didn’t ask questions, he simply accepted Sheeta’s situation and helped her regardless of what it meant for him (then again it lead him to an adventure he was striving for to begin with and while he worked hard before it didn’t seem to matter to him). But the main villain was probably among the worst I’ve ever seen. You could smell his schemes miles away. And even the reveal about his own background fell flat to me. Like at that point I didn’t even care about him anymore. But once again I want to point out how much I loved the pirates. As much as I hated them in the beginning because they were the stereotypical bad guys. They still were at the end of the movie but I simply love them. Especially Dola. There’s only one tiny detail that bothered me… The pirates going on about how cute Sheeta was. How old was she supposed to be? Maybe 11? It crept me out a little to be honest. But I really want to believe it was simply to show they had a soft side to them.

Music 10/10
Music and themes is really something Ghibli movies can’t do wrong in my opinion. There is nothing more to say. Except for maybe I’ll listen to the OST more than I’d rewatch this movie.

Overall 6/10
If you would ask me if I would recommend this movie I’d be torn. Because I don’t think it’s a waste of time but I also didn’t enjoy myself. For me it was a movie I always wanted to watch (mostly due to the hype and high expectations this fostered). So if you go into this not knowing anything about the movie, maybe don’t expect too much. Because I think it’s mainly this beloved because of nostalgia and those who can see its value. I think maybe you should judge it for yourself and maybe you will end up loving it and having an entire different opinion about it. One thing I’m going to admit is that I think this movie changed a lot and had to exist so other beautiful anime movies could be created. This alone makes it worth it in my opinion. (Still, probably never going to re-watch it).