[ MOVIE ]

Reviewer : Kylara

In an alternate world created by Ghibli, an abandoned castle called Laputa floats in the sky, above the peaceful, rural countryside. At the beginning, an airship is attacked by pirates, apparently after something called the 'Levistone'. A young girl on the airship grabs the stone from a man, and accidentally falls out the window. Pazu, a young boy who works in a silver mine, is working when he sees something falling from the sky. Running to a platform closer to the object, he is shocked to see that it is a slowly falling girl. Around her neck is the stone, glowing magnificently as she floats down. Catching her, he finds that her name is Sheeza, and is running away from both the pirates and the people she was on the airship with. She, Pazu, and the man she stole the stone from (Muuska) are all wrapped up in the world of Laputa, the legend of a castle that floats in the sky.

The basis of the plot may be slightly generic, but the characters are all original, fantastic, and simply adorable. You could really love Pazu; you could really adore Sheeza, and you could really hate Muuska. You could even get to love the pirates, as odd as all of them might be. This particular movie had wonderful characters, as well as some amazing, unique articles throughout this movie. The friendship between Pazu and Sheeza worked amazingly well, making you believe that it would be possible to build such strong relationships in so short a period a time. The movie also showed you how first appearances are never what they seem - although the pirates (the Dora) seem to be horribly crude people, you find that they are human, kind, and with their own loving quirks like everyone else. These characters are so incredibly real, one could almost reach out and touch them.

The script was very good, funny, and original. Although the plot was slightly generic, the script was not. Little lines and comments, placed strategically throughout this movie, make it all the more endearing to the movie. Although they are just completely random one-liners, looking back on the movie, one remembers them with vivid detail. The entire movie is just so gently done, and with so much grace and delicate flourish. Although I only thought it was ok when I watched it, it's an incredibly heartwarming movie.

All together, this movie was incredibly endearing to your heart, and one of the better Ghibli movies that I've watched. Mononoke Hime was good, I hated Mimi wo Sumaseba [Editor's note : Cripes :P], and Tonari no Totoro was darling, but Laputa has the best elements of all these movies and more. It has the cuteness, it has the adventure, and it has the incredibly strong friendship between two complete strangers. I fail to see what it lacked.