Mary and The Witch's Flower (2018)

Beautifully done movie.... every aspect is so wonderfully imagined...

The animation and the story resemble the best of Studio Ghibli. Howevet, this does not even come close to the creativity or story line of the weakest Miyazaki films. This was entertaining for the kids, but not inspiring.

SPOILER: I've seen the term "Ghibli-lite" thrown around quite a bit in the past, but this is the first time it has truly felt appropriate. Studio Ponoc is the new Japanese animation studio that has risen from the ashes of the mighty Studio Ghibli with the goal of creating animated features of the same spirit and quality. It's staffed by many of the same extraordinarily talented animators, and this film - their debut - was helmed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of two recent canon Ghibli films: the solid The Secret World of Arrietty, and the excellent When Marnie Was There. You couldn't hope for a better pedigree, but Mary and the Witch's Flower falls unequivocally short of the mark.It certainly looks the part. It frequently sounds the part. But it just doesn't feel the part. For all its visual grandeur, the film ultimately has a vacuous, shallow quality. It references many phenomenal, classic Ghibli films like Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away, but fails to reach the same level of heart, nuance, and depth. The bathhouse setting in Spirited Away, for instance, absolutely bustles with activity and is populated by characters who feel unique and well-realized no matter how minor their role. By comparison, Endor College feels hollow and lifeless, a backdrop rather than a living, breathing place. This film took about half the time to make as the typical Ghibli film and, sadly, it shows. The characters are thin and the plot feels familiar and routine in an unflattering way,Still, there are some magical moments to be had here and visually the film does consistently impress. The more contemplative scenes which make up much of the first act of the film contain its best sequences. Yonebayashi has shown himself to be a filmmaker that thrives in the languid, slice-of-life style approach and this film doesn't play to his strengths. It was likely a calculated decision to make a more fun, action/adventure-oriented feature a la Castle in the Sky to debut the studio but it just comes off feeling... calculated. It's a decent film, but given the talent involved, decent is quite a letdown. I haven't given up on Ponoc though. Someone needs to carry the Ghibli torch and they are still poised to be the ones to do it. Fingers crossed that it's only up from here.3/5

I felt like i was watching a sort of Harry Potter rehash, the movie started good but quickly lost its shine, you can see the influence of other Asian anime in this movie, only its really poor.Compared to such classic as Castle in the Sky, Naussica and the Valley of the Wind, Spirited away, this movie falls short on all accounts.The villains are uninspiring and boring and the story of the movie feels rush even if its running time is close to 1:40.