Let’s get things straight; Ghibli Studio’s film is still superior in every way. But this version is also quite enjoyable. Unlike what the general audience might think, this isn’t a remake of the 1989 animation; it’s actually based on the original novel. As a consequence, many things are entirely dissimilar from the animated version. The character and the general climax were untouched but once Kiki arrives into the village, almost everything goes into a different way. This is considerate as a positive point since Shimizu didn’t try to copycat Miyazaki’s version. The little witch still tries to find her way into the world as she goes through puberty and deals many conflicting emotions. The thing about Kiki’s Delivery Service that it inserted stimulating subplots. Of course, it’s not that all of them were successful but it was enough to distinguish itself from the Ghibli Studio’s version.
Koshiba Fuka who played Kiki was convincing acting wise but that doesn’t apply on the aging criteria. She didn’t look like a 13 year-old in any way. However her co-star Hirota Ryohei was very believable as Tombo, he definitely shined better than the main character in this version. Some other characters were altered but it wasn’t very serious.
The CGI could be acceptable but the talking cat looked so fake that my eyes got hurt. Shimizu Takashi, better known as one of Japan’s horror films master decided to go with a family production this time and he did rather well with his angles and settings, if only the CGI was better handled.
Watch if:
-You like to see another version of the outstanding Miyazaki piece.
-You like family films in general.
Do not watch this if:
-You’re looking for a replicate.
-You dislike live action adaptations.
Kiki’s delivery Service is an okay family film. It differs from Ghibli Studio’s iconic animation even if it shares the same concept.
Was this review helpful to you?
Anyways, onto the main review. I've watched the Ghibli version many many years ago. What comes first isn't always better. This is just my opinion, but this live action adaptation is in no way inferior to the anime. They're both different in a good way. So, I'll break down the review into the following categories:
1. CHARACTERIZATION: I thought the Kiki in this movie was much more believable than the anime. In the anime, Kiki has always been a good girl who loses her power b/c she saw how spoiled humanity can be sometimes. In this movie, Kiki is a real human girl/witch with something called an ego --- she has that youthful pride that we've all experienced all too often when we were younger. As a result, she gets humbled and temporarily loses her powers. There is your realism. The anime portrayed Kiki as a 100% good girl, which isn't realistic. Everyone has imperfections, and this movie clearly showed the main protagonists' to us.
Also, they portrayed Osono as a very human character in this movie, who comes off as a really compassionate person towards Kiki in the way she encourages Kiki to never give up by urging her to take on the next job . In the anime, Osono comes off not as a person but a flat two-dimensional plot device whose purposes were to give Kiki shelter and give her the idea to set up a delivery service. This movie characterizes Osono so much more. She's like a surrogate mother to Kiki rather than just a Landlord/lady.
And let's not forget Tombo. He's more than just some pretty (nerdy) boy that needs saving by dangling from a broken blimp. I won't spoil it for anyone, so let's just say that Tombo is a lot more manly in this movie. Actually, he (and the baby hippo and the singer lady telepathically and Osono's encouragement) were the ones who saved Kiki's conscience. Kiki only saved Tombo with her mother's wound-healing medicine, which any passerby could have done. Nothing like in the anime where Kiki was the only one who could have flown to Tombo just in the nick of time.
2. THE CGI. For a low budget production, I thought the SFX was incredible. If you want to see really bad CGI, look no further than the upcoming Batman v Superman movie trailer. The parts where CG Batman tries to evade CG Superman's wrath looks to me like utter shite compared to the worst CG in this movie. I really thought CG Jiji could exist in real life, b/c a witch's cat is no ordinary cat! Forget that movie poster at the top corner of this page. Jiji looks nothing like that in the movie, he's got more fur textures and better lighting. Also, the flying sequences are really well done. The only part where I could visibly tell it was green screen was at the title where she's flying infront of the gigantic moon, and the light from the moon made it so.
3. THE STORY. I thought it was a refreshing change from the anime with fleshed out ideas. Parts where teenagers played pranks on each other to get even had me chuckling. Heck, I even think some of the story changes were even genius, such as ferries only come around on a set schedule, which is why they need a witch to delivery stuff between islands. In regards to delivering a baby hippo towards the climax, what can I say, the hippo was one of the four (the others are Tombo, singer lady, and Osono) who redeemed Kiki, so it's all good! It didn't feel like a plot device but rather something which advanced the story and Kiki's character! It showed her determination to complete her apprenticeship b/c she decided to become a witch ever since she could remember and flying was the only magical ability she'd cared to cultivate.
4. REWATCH VALUE. I rewatched the anime maybe once or twice so far. That's how much rewatch value that anime had! I've already skimmed over certain key scenes a few days after watching this movie. If I were to hold an annual movie-a-thon, this would be one of my top choices to add on the list for indefinite screening unto the n-th anniversary of such movie-a-thon!
5. HUMANITY. This is a made-up category, but important nonetheless! This is perhaps the reason why I gave this movie a 9.5 and not say a 7! I believe that a movie or work of fiction is special when it touches your heart. For me, it was the bicycle riding scene. Do you remember the first time you mastered riding the bike? For a kid watching this movie, it would be something trivial as they've probably only learned to ride a bike recently. But for someone a bit older it certainly brings back memories of us being bipeds (literal) on wheels for the first time ever in our lives using manpower! This movie brought back a certain fond memory of mine --- I was literally a kid again while watching this movie, which certainly isn't a bad thing!
In summary, movies are meant to entertain. No matter how critically acclaimed something is, if it doesn't entertain, then it's got no purpose existing. This movie definitely entertained and so it does exist!
Was this review helpful to you?
Fun fantasy film
I want to say first that this movie is not a remake of the Miyazaki Hayao film! They are both based on the same children's book by Eiko Kadono (who also makes a cameo in the movie). Keep this in mind if you decide to watch this.Though nowhere near the brilliance of Miyazaki's classic, it manages to stand on its own. It suffers from a few issues common with live-action adaptations. The CGI animals for instance, especially the baby hippo. I found it distracting for some reason. In some scenes it was a puppet, others full CGI. Other than that, the film's effects were pretty good such as Kiki flying. As for actors, I absolutely loved Koshiba Fuka (Kiki) and Miyazawa Rie (Kiki's mother). They were great in my opinion. Tombo's (Hirota Ryohei) character took a minute for me to warm up to. I found him very abrasive at first, though I liked him by the end of the movie.
Though not a certifiable hit like the 1989 movie, this film was fun overall and a perfect pick for children. I was touched during several moments and even cried during the climax. Watch this only if you're willing not to compare it too harshly to Miyazaki's movie (though I also realize comparisons are always inevitable).
Was this review helpful to you?
Fine Companion to the Anime
I have always been of one mind when it comes to remakes: if you can make a better version of a movie, then go for it; and if you can't, you need to leave it be. Even though the anime film is an adaptation of a novel, the anime has become such a classic, likely even overtaking the novel in the cultural zeitgeist, that any other attempt to redo the story will have to go up against the anime film. The reason I decided to give this film a chance was because of Director Takashi Shimizu, who is most known for directing the original 'Ju-On,' and the main actress playing Kiki, Fuka Koshiba, who is probably one of my favorites working in Japan right now.It's been a while since I had seen the anime, so for the most part, I went into this blind, but it's not a bad film. I could see it more as a companion piece to the anime than something that can stand apart from the anime. With the director having a horror background, I was interested to see what he could bring to bringing this fantasy world to light, and for the most part, it feels very paint by numbers. His directing feels like the kind of assembly line directing of the MCU, where they just plug in a smaller-known director and have them make the film the studio wants.
Fuka Koshiba is the standout as Kiki; even at 17, she embodied how I imagined a real Kiki would be. She did a good job bringing out the more hokey or trite moments in the screenplay. The writing is probably the weakest part, as the film runs around the same length as the anime but feels longer and more drawn out. The pace feels off, as there are long moments where nothing happens, and then you have a bunch of events happen at once, and then the film mentions it's been three days, and I can't help but think all of this happened in three days.
The film tries to tie in the message of the story with all the characters, and it works for some and fails for others, but its heart's in the right place, so I can't fault it too much. Overall, while remaking Kiki's Delivery Service seems like an impossible task, for the most part, the cast and crew make a serviceable enough film that you can feel a little bit of the magic. Still, I highly recommend watching the anime first if you haven't seen it, as I can only see this working as a companion and not your first exposure to the story.
Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet, lovely, and touchy live-action film adaptation
I wasn't aware Eiko Kadono's novel "Kiki's Delivery Service" had a live-action film adaptation in 2014. I love this movie, it's sweet, lovely, and touchy. Even though the CG for the baby hippo was not so good, overall that can be easily overlooked because of the acting, story, production, and proper setting.I hope there won't be another live-action adaptation of "Kiki's Delivery Service" because this 2014 film is it.
Highly recommended for the family!
10 out of 10 stars from me.
Was this review helpful to you?
An Utter Disappointment
There is a young witch. Her name is Kiki and she does deliveries, but ...THIS IS NOT STUDIO GHIBLI'S KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE! Other than what I have mentioned it bares no resemblance to the masterfully animated and told classic. Takashi Shimizu should probably stick with horror. For the first time I will include all my separate catergory ratings in a review. The separate ratings are what I felt about the movie I just watched. The overall is for this supposedly being Kiki's Delivery Service. If you've never watched it animated, go watch it. If you have and loved it, consider this your warning.Shimizu, the writer and director behind Ju-On (The Grudge), got it in his head that he could write and direct a live action of KDS. This movie proved he could not. This movie is loosely based upon the classic. A young witch whose only magic is flight leaves home to complete her training. She settles on a delivery service. Aside from the ability to fly, you would never know this was supposed to KDS. Her tell tale large red bow is missing for one thing. I think Shimizu thought he was giving Kiki a backstory. Something no one asked for. This Kiki doesn't have the original's self confidence. She has her own, but she falters. Perhaps she's more like a 13 year old should be, but this isn't a slice of life. It's fantasy. There was something or a lot of somethings missing in this movie, but it's hard to narrow down. I want to say it's heart, but there is some. Perhaps that's it. There's only some. Some heart. Some confidence. Some spunk. Some of this and some of that but not all. The writing fails. The cinematography is dull. There's an island and several ocean shots but they are drab and washed out. That's a complaint I have with many Japanese movies. Their movie quality is cheap comparatively like they can't spare the money. It's a simple story and production. I give it 6 stars.
The cast was good enough. There was one extremely annoying character ( at least to me), but that's not the actor's fault. They did their jobs well enough with the material they had. 8.5 stars
The music was pretty good. There was a character that sang. I don't know if it was her voice or if she was lip syncing, but I liked the songs she sang. 7 stars
The rewatch value is 1 only because we can't give 0's.
Overall, I'll give it 4.5 stars out of 10. I'm being nice. This was no Kiki's Delivery Service. Far from it. The overall for the movie I watched comes out to be 5.5. Watch the animation. Forget this crap.
Was this review helpful to you?
Live action remakes are successful when they take you back to the previous work. And this one failed miserably at doing that. Maybe if it was not a remake but some other fantasy witch adventure it could work.
As a whole, it was an average film. The acting wasn't bad and I loved some of the visuals but not the flying CGI which is clearly an important part of story.
Watchable but do not get your hopes up.
Was this review helpful to you?
