When Marnie Was There

Another overrated project from Studio Ghibli. Their movies have not been up the standards of movies such as My Neighbors the Yamadas or The Cat Returns since 2012 with The Secret World of Arrietty. While The Cat Returns wasn't that great, The Secret World of Arrietty was so sentimental, it's painful. With the exception of Wind Rises, the movies were overrated with simplistic Tale of Princess Kaguya (at the beginning, of course). I was pretty skeptical about this one. While it started off with a great beginning, it got boring and annoying when Sayaka showed up. She is a forgettable character who was kind of mean, yet so nice, she's clichéd. Anna bothered me for some reason, it was because of her boyish clothes but it was also something else, I don't know. Maybe she's just a stereotypical pre-teen. Marnie was the standout character of all the characters, she was perky, friendly, and mysterious. Anna befriends Sayaka which drops the ball because a lot of movies have characters befriending the clichéd nice girl. The art and animation were still amazing as usual, but I am very disappointed in Studio Ghibli for ending up like Pixar. The movie of course got cloying as it went on whether it's between Anna or Sayaka or Anna and Marnie. It also ended in a sentimental way. Maybe if they brought Hayou Miyazaki back to directing, he would save the studio and bring it back its glory. Also, I thought Sayaka's voice acting was a pretty bad job. The themes just didn't click with me, it was boring and sometimes not empathetic. Studio Ghibli tried too hard by throwing in creepy parts and an emotional ending to be like their other movies. The creepy parts did not blend well and ruined the pacing of the film.