In this take on the well known story about "The Borrowers" studio ghibli falls seriously flat. The movie "The Secret World Of Arrietty" is about a boy who comes across a family of four inch people. But that's all that happens. The movie just seems slow as this boy tries to get the youngest of these mini-people, a girl by the name of Arrietty, to trust and talk to him. Half of the movie goes by and nothing of importance happens as you follow Arrietty through the large house as she steals things of no importance to the average sized people, such as pins or sugar cubes.
When the boy and girl finally form a friendship its too late as the mini-people are moving away for their own survival. The boy is sad and so is Arrietty but eventually they will get over it. This film lacks all of the wonder, excitement and uncertainty of the other Hayao Miyazaki films. The characters are cute but you don't feel any attachment to them, even after the boy reveals to you that he might die of a heart condition. I think that this is so because no real problem arises, you don't know what to root for. The characters just about go through their daily lives without incident and you feel empty and unaccomplished after you've finished the movie. You sit their thinking "What did I just watch?" Pretty colors on the screen mostly.
This movie is good for small children who will go about the house afterwords looking for little people, but for adults it just doesn't seem to cut it. I give it a 4 for storyline and an extra point for beautiful animation, but not much else. 5/10
When the boy and girl finally form a friendship its too late as the mini-people are moving away for their own survival. The boy is sad and so is Arrietty but eventually they will get over it. This film lacks all of the wonder, excitement and uncertainty of the other Hayao Miyazaki films. The characters are cute but you don't feel any attachment to them, even after the boy reveals to you that he might die of a heart condition. I think that this is so because no real problem arises, you don't know what to root for. The characters just about go through their daily lives without incident and you feel empty and unaccomplished after you've finished the movie. You sit their thinking "What did I just watch?" Pretty colors on the screen mostly.
This movie is good for small children who will go about the house afterwords looking for little people, but for adults it just doesn't seem to cut it. I give it a 4 for storyline and an extra point for beautiful animation, but not much else. 5/10