Not up to the high quality that Studio Ghibli usually puts out. ( )

A sad waste of a beautiful film. I don't mind so much that it has very little to do with the source material, but I do mind that it's not good. Admittedly, the first third or so is quite engaging. Intriguing things happen, the world seems mysterious and magical and real in that particular Ghibli way, and everything is very, very pretty. Then, alas, the protagonists arrive at a cosy farmstead and the rest of the film is -- well, it's still pretty. Little else, sadly. Characters do next to nothing, scenes where something does happen take three to five times the amount of time they should, and the plot is erratic, hard to follow and -- when it does bother to make sense -- only present in long, inactive dialogue or monologue sequences. We are told who is who and why they do the things they do, not shown. The film finally picks a bit back up the final confrontation, which while also overlong at least is dynamic to watch, but we're left with next to no explanations. Props, however, to the English voice cast, Defoe and Dalton in particular add a lot to the dubbed version. But nothing can make up for the utter lack of coherent storytelling. I'd be quite happy to rewatch the first third of this film some day, perhaps then fast-forwarding to some highlights of the final showdown, wherein the genuinely creepy villain gets to shine. But the film in its entirety is just not worth it. And it costs me to say that, because it has wizards and dragons. ( )

I've read Le Guin didn't admire this adaptation, and I don't think she's wrong. I do like the Frankenstein approach to the plot: recognisable scenes, characters, plot developments, picked from the first 4 books and then pieced together in a new mosaic. However far it falls short, it was a better attempt than trying to telescope the series into a single movie.

I actually find Spirited Away meets the feel of the series better than does this movie: in plot and character arcs, and in aesthetic. ( )

Enjoyable, random, confusing. ( )