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Kiki's Delivery Service Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 57 Reviews)

Enchanting movie...

This is one of Miyazaki's best. In the vein of 'Totoro' but a bit more grown-up. It's probably my favourite after 'Nausicaa', which is his masterpiece.

There is a quality to Miyazaki's animation and story-telling that is indescribable. You have to experience it to understand it. The attention to detail and the intimacy in his narration is really special. Though it's probably easier (for English speakers) to watch the movie with the English dialogue, it's so much better with the original Japanese soundtrack. The English dialogue lacks the softness and subtlety of the Japanese version. This is a great family film; a film people of all ages can enjoy. I am definitely going to be buying the DVD, 'cos I'm going to want to share this movie with friends and family.

It's good.
Kiki's Delivery Service is good. It's not great, it's not bad. And though it possesses some of Hayao Miyazaki's magical ingenuity he endows in all of his movies, it is sadly lacking in other ways.

Simple. That would be the best word to describe Kiki's Delivery Service. Besides Kiki, there is no especially extraordinary character. Jiji, an extension of Kiki's less naive personality (hence their names Jiji/Kiki), has a few funny and heartwarming moments. There are the bakers, who take Kiki in, which is their most extraordinary achievement. Tombo might have been an interesting character, but there are few scenes dedicated to him. Though there is an even longer scene than any of Tombo's where a never-seen-again-in-the-movie granny cooks. Twenty minutes of watching a fire heat, a fish get baked, and then Kiki flying through the rain with the salmon tucked safely under her dress.

Kiki herself isn't especially exciting. While she is cute, charming and innocent her innocence makes her a little two dimensional. By the end of the movie Kiki hasn't actually changed, such as turning from ugly to pretty, or angry to happy. She just gains some confidence and, in fact, even at the end she still struggles with her inability to fly properly. And that's supposed to be her specialty! Yet it's belittling to Kiki to say just that. She's a beautifully animated character with the relatively good voice actor Kirsten Dunst. Yet besides being able to fly a broom (aren't all witches in that movie, though, supposed to be able to fly a broom?) there isn't anything particularly spectacular to set Kiki apart from any young girl coming of age.

One of Hayao Miyazaki's best characteristics in his movies is that he is able to make a great host of characters while simultaneously creating a world and a bizarre and unique conflict. This movie utterly fails in the latter. There is no significant conflict. There is no bad guy. The only real (perhaps) breath holding action scene is when Kiki is rescuing Tombo. Too bad they showed her saving him in the preview.

On the other hand, the scenery is great... sometimes. There are a few spectacular scenes with Kiki's unique bird's eye view with her broom. And then there's another spectacular scene with Kiki on her broom. And another. And another. The only unique parts as far as looks go are when Kiki is mounted on her broom, and even some of those are lacking. As Jiji said of the scenery: Let's find another town. There's a bigger, better place somewhere else, I'm sure. It's true.

Kiki's Delivery Service is an imaginative and artistic movie. Yet, to put it bluntly, little happens in the movie. It doesn't have the same flair as Spirited Away to be called "classic". While Kiki's Delivery Service might be one to see once, it's not essential to add to your Hayao Miyazaki collection. Wait, and I'm sure the next Hayao Miyazaki movie to hit the shelves will be more ambitious than a movie about a witch who knows how to fly on a broom.


Had Higher Expectations...
This movie could have been summed up in 30 minutes. I fell asleep several times trying to get through it, good sleep aid, not such a great film. I had way higher expectations from watching the other AMAZING Miyazaki films. This movie isn't a bad edition to Miyazaki's portfolio, but it's not even close to his best.

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