Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Legend speaks of a floating city, the last of its kind.  Hidden deep within is treasure beyond worth and power so dangerous it could annihilate the planet.  The lives of two youths have become entwined with this legend: Sheeta, who possesses a treasure born from this city; and Pazu, whose Father glimpsed the city with his own eyes.  Together, these two must brave Assassins and Pirates determined to claim the power of this lost city for themselves, the city known as Laputa.

It’s not easy following up a film that’s become an important part of Anime history, as well as the first major stepping stone for one of the most beloved studios in the genre.  Despite this pressure, Laputa (or Castle in the Sky as it was released for some reason in the US), dares to give it a try.  Not only is this Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial follow up to Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, it’s also the first official project and release from Studio Ghibli, whose founders and staff all worked with Miyazaki on that film.  Flying above those lofty expectations seems to be Laputa’s main approach as it dials up the high flying spectacle and action in addition to Ghibli’s usual beautiful visuals.  But is Laputa a worthy successor to the film many consider to be Ghibli’s true start point?
 
While Nausicca had plenty of sky based sequences, most of its central action was land based.  It’s a fun switch up for Laputa to head upwards for most of its runtime and Ghibli animates the heck out the skies above, from massive airships just passing by to a thrilling chase through a nasty looking hurricane.  The titular castle in the sky itself looks as wonderous as its built up to be and what little we get to glimpse of it begs further exploration.  Yeah I will say that the castle isnt in the movie as much as you might expect or want.  Which is the movies biggest shame because just look at how cool this place looks?  I’m not saying look through every nook and Craney but still, you can do more besides a quick couple minute walk to a certain spot before quickly jumping into the final act.  I know they say it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, but dammit I wanted to spend more time in this particular sky island get away.
 
The journey to Laputa is a lot of fun though, if a bit uneven.  I feel like this was supposed to be a more lighthearted offering compared to Naussica and it shows through the bulk of the first act.  There’s plenty of collateral damage but zero lives lost due to everyone knowing to get out of the way of a major disaster ASAP.  One of the best sequences sees an ancient Robot running amok in a castle fortress and it claims a zero body count, so much so you wonder if even the smallest background character has plot armor.  It may take away any sense of suspense but the action is still thrilling and at times amusingly funny.  A lot of the humor comes mostly from the wildly entertaining Dola Gang.  These Sky Pirates under the command of the scene stealing Granny Dola deserve their own film given the chaos they cause.  Plus considering they get mostly sidelined in the last act, a spin off film is the least that can be done for them.
 
Yeah I think a lot of my problems with Laptua come from the third act and the leads.  Sheeta and Pazu are a cute couple but they lack the same depth and complexities of other Ghibli heroines and heroes.  Look at Nausicca or Spirited Away, those films cannot work without their leads in any way. Pazu and Sheeta don’t get the same kind of reaction from me.  They could be anyone random and nothing of value is lost.  The last third of a kind of needlessly 2 hour feature doesn’t feel as exciting as it should.  Part of that is not really caring about Pazu and Sheeta while also feeding back into my criticism of turning Laputa into a battlefield barely anytime after we’ve finally made it.  The only things that do work are Joe Hisashi’s excellent score (his theme for the Robots is one of the best I’ve heard in a Miyazaki film), and Mark Hamill providing the English Voice of main villain Muska.  There are times where he’s chasing Sheeda and his laughter rises to a couple of levels just below that of his legendary performance as The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, I got chills.  We may all love him as Luke Skywalker but Hamill can still play one helluva bad guy.
 
All in all, I don’t dislike Laputa but I cant say it’s one of my favorite Miyazaki or Ghibli films either.  It takes a while to get to the castle and we barely get to see what else is in besides one or two major sections.  Sheeta and Pazu are pretty dull compared to the much more fun Dola Gang or menacing Muska. The art direction, action and mecha designs are breathtaking (even if it looks like it reuses some concepts from Naussica) and more than make up for the films storytelling shortcomings.  It’s a beautiful adventure film that aims high for Ghiblis’ first true Anime as a full fledged studio.  But it still comes up short of truly reaching the edge of the sky.  Again it’s fine.  But as Ghibli and Miyazaki have shown throughout their illustrious history…they can do much, much better than fine.
 
7/10
 
Next week, Miyazaki Month II continues with the “Little Witch that Could.”  Move over Harry Potter, Kiki’s Delivery Service is coming to town Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.