Eh, let's just call Tales from Earthsea a case of growing pains for Goro Miyazaki. 

It's not a bad movie. It's just unremarkable in every way. It doesn't have the creativity, emotional depth, or beauty of Spirited Away, the visual wonder of Howl's Moving Castle, the scope of adventure of Castle in the Sky, the lovable characters of Kiki's Delivery Service, or the sheer delight and fun of Ponyo. 

If I had to choose a defining feature for Earthsea, I honestly don't know what it would be. The music is fine, but nothing extraordinary. The character designs and artwork are dangerously close to generic, the story lacks tension and feels almost inconsequential, and the writing is bland. Where's the heart? Where's the humor, the passion, or something that would draw me into the narrative?

I found myself not caring much about what was happening, and more concerned with how much time was left until the movie was over, than anything else. My  expectations for Studio Ghibli are far too high to embrace a movie like this that barely scrapes above mediocrity, and from what I've heard from fans of the Earthsea literature, this isn't the adaptation they were hoping for, either.

I rented this film because it was from Studio Gibli--and they've made a lot of terrific films. However, I think it's one of their least productions--and if you are looking for a film like "My Neighbor Totoro" or "Ponyo", "Tales of Earthsea" may leave you cold. It turns out that the film left the author of the original book (Ursula LeGuin) cold--as she was apparently surprised at home violent this film was--and how unlike her story it was.

Although this is a Miyazaki directed film, it's actually by his son, Goro. Hayao was apparently busy on another project and so direction of this epic cartoon was delegated to him. And in many ways it looks like a Hayao Miyazaki film...but if you pay attention closely, you'll easily be able to see the differences. In particular, while the best scenes in "Tales From Earthsea" are every bit as good as any other Miyazaki film, many times you see lapses--scenes where the animation is frankly no better than a typical anime show. I found it frustrating as the film switched from a gorgeously rendered scene to one that just looked slapped together hurriedly. Also, this film is very dark--a lot like Hayao's early films ("Nausica"). It has a lot of blood for a cartoon--and even an attempted rape scene. Clearly it earned its PG-13 rating.

The story is typical of many fantasy stories and ultimately you can easily see where the plot is headed. There's an evil wizard and the spirits of goodness must prevail. However, it seems to take forever getting there. The pace, to put it bluntly, is glacial. My daughter adores Miyazaki films, but midway through the movie she went to bed. Like so many other viewers, she was hoping to see something reminiscent of "Sprited Away" or "Ponyo". Instead, it was a bit like a long-winded and more boring version of "Howl's Moving Castle"--and like that film, it seemed to have little respect for the source material.

Overall, I'd give this film a 6. If you are patient, it IS worth seeing but I certainly would not show it to most kids. Poorly paced and unevenly animated, it is certainly among the least watchable of Gibli's films. On the positive side, the DVD package is nice and you can watch the film in the original Japanese (like I did) with English subtitles or you can watch it with an American cast of voice talent.

As many have guessed I am very fond of Studio Ghibli and their films. While I did like it in general, Tales from Earthsea lacked that extra something that made me love Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Whisper of the Heart and Castle in the Sky as much as I did. The storytelling is rather clumsy and hackneyed in places, and some of the dialogue is rather hit and miss, and I also thought there was some lethargic pacing in the middle. However, the animation is absolutely gorgeous and the music is beautiful too. The characters are decent and likable enough, and the voice work from the likes of Timothy Dalton and Willem Dafoe is fine. Overall, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox