Review of Castle in the Sky

A friend of mine told me to see a 1986 anime called Castle In The Sky, due to that he went apeshit over it and begged me to see it (can't say no to a friend i guess..). So I sat down and watched Castle In The Sky, one of Miyazaki's most phenomenal work to date and it is quite an effort that he made. Castle In The Sky continues the tradition of art and storytelling to new heights, thanks to Miyazaki's wonderful written characters, engaging story and mystery to the floating city of Laputa. So let's get started. (Fun Fact: The name "Laputa" wasmentioned in the story of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift).

Castle In The Sky is about Pazu (voiced by James Van Der Beek), a young boy who sees a girl falling from the sky very slowly towards the earth and Pazu catches her in the nick of time. Pazu takes the girl to his home and when she wakes up, the both meet in the ceiling of Pazu's house. The girl is named Sheeta (voiced by Anna Paquin) and she is also alone with no parents, but she has a crystal pendant as a necklace and was a gift from her mother. Sheeta then sees a picture of a floating castle in the sky and Pazu tells Sheeta that it was a picture of the city of Laputa, a city that it was made for flying, but got destroyed by some catastrophe and years later, Pazu's father was the one who saw the city of Laputa and took the picture, but nobody believes him and called him a liar and a fraud, in which it lead to his death. However, their conversation get interrupted, as Pazu and Sheeta get chased by a band of air pirates, led by a very awesome mother named Captain Dola (voiced by Cloris Leachman) and they also get chased by military personnel and a government agent named Colonel Muska (voiced by Mark Hammil). During an epic action sequence on the military base, Pazu, now befriending the pirates to help them get treasure, and Sheeta fly together and they fly to the city of Laputa, where Pazu can finally prove that the city exists. But when Muska gets to Laputa and threatens to kill all humankind, Pazu and Sheeta must work together to stop Muska to save all the things that matters in the world.

Castle In The Sky has a very simple plot, but with a very complex message about the consequences of technology and that no matter how many things we can do with technology in this world (like making weapons, missiles, tanks or anything technology based), the planet cannot live without harmony and love, and we must let go of our past to move and make things better if we want to survive as a human race. The characters are fantastic, i love Dola and she is very funny, but also a very deep hearted person that has more faith in our main heroes. i also love Dola's family of pirates, in which they are full with personalities and very nice charisma, but Colonel Muska steals the show as the main antagonist. Muska is a bastard, constantly stalking Sheeta and Pazu as the heroes find the city of Laputa for his own secret agenda and let me tell ya, the twist that reveals Muska's agenda will slap the living fuck out of you (Don't worry I will not spoil this). The main heroes, Sheeta and Pazu are fantastic in this movie as well and their chemistry works really well through the entire film and of their big stand out moment was the climax and again, I will not spoil it, but it's just epic.

The animation by Studio Ghibli is outstanding to look at and I goddamn love the effort and imagination that the animators put on the film. The detail and structure of the land of Laputa is breathtaking to admire, with it's architecture that feels grand and where it's made to be a floating flying city, it's really magnificent to witness and the garden in Laputa.... Jesus Christ! It looks like Heaven to the eyes. Character models are expressive and full of different but well drawn character models to boot and this was a film in 1986 and it still looks damn good. The action set-pieces are very fun, like how the film starts with a bang, where pirates invade the airship and how Sheeta must escape from them or the part where the robot awakens and causes killer destruction to the base, while trying to protect Sheeta as well. The soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi is amazing as well and it's very overlooked by many music fans, but it really shouldn't be overlooked, cause it's just breathtaking to hear it and it really sets the mood for the movie, so what the hell?!. Overall, Castle In The Sky is engaging, wonderful and just an imaginative piece of work, it's Miyazaki at his best and well worth the look, if you're a major Miyazaki geek and anime fan for that matter.