 As you all know by now, I've been reviewing the Miyazaki films that have been showing in theaters across the U.S. all year. Last week, I saw Spirited Away. As I've said a number of times during the course of this review series, Spirited Away is not a favorite of mine. I saw it once when it was originally released theatrically 25 years ago, and I left the theater not liking it. I wanted to give it another chance this time, and I had exactly the same experience. I don't like this film. It doesn't have any of the Miyazaki charm. I always talk about how charming Miyazaki's films are. This one has none. It has none of it. There's a handful of moments in the film that have little hints of his powers of charm. I say moments, not even scenes, just moments. But for the most part, it's just two hours of awfulness that happens to this girl for no reason. I remember thinking back in the day that the film had a lot in common with Alice in Wonderland, and it does. But this film makes it clear that what happens to her was not a dream. When she and her parents re-emerge from the spirit world, clearly time has gone by. Their car is covered with leaves, and they don't know how long they've been away. So it was real. It's about a girl and her parents accidentally stepping into the spirit world at the wrong time, like Brigadune. That's what I was trying to think of. This little girl who's, I don't know, I imagine she's maybe ten years old, maybe younger, eight or even seven. She gets trapped in the spirit world, essentially, and she has to work for these monsters in a monster hotel. She has no choice, and just one awful thing after another happens to her, and then the movie just ends. There doesn't seem to be any particular lesson to it. I know Miyazaki films are usually connected to a young girl growing up, and that doesn't seem to be the case in this film. It doesn't seem to have a moral. Miyazaki's young girl leads usually start with very strong relationships with their families, especially their parents. In this one, no, the parents are introduced as being unlikable and distant. So it doesn't even have that. This film and Princess Mononoke are the two films that people talk about when they talk about Miyazaki. Those are the first two films to get a decent theatrical release in the States, and it's because of that that people in America talk about those two films more than any other. And those two films are not typical of Miyazaki at all. In fact, I don't even like them. I dislike them, and I strongly recommend that people see other Miyazaki films. Instead of Spirited Away and Mononoke, I would recommend Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, which is not being released in this series, which is too bad because it's a very charming film. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Totoro, Ponyo, which, again, unfortunately, is not being released in this series. I don't think it is. The next film is Howl's Moving Castle, which I did see in the theater when it was released. I remember not being all that impressed with it, but it was better than Spirited Away, a lot better. And I'm looking forward to that, and I'll review it when it comes a month from now. Bye. Please remember to press that like button. It helps my videos get seen. And then subscribe so you can come back next time. I do science fiction book, TV, and movie reviews all the time. And please consider becoming a patron. There's a link in the description below.