carpingobserver
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.
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.
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