Castle in the Sky

 Castle in the Sky

Starring Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Mark Hamill

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

What is the movie about?
Young Sheeta (Anna Paquin) is being chased by a secret government organization ran by Muska (Mark Hamill), and also by a gang of air pirates ran by Dola (Cloris Leachman), both are after a magical stone she possesses.  When she nearly dies, the stone allows her to float to safety, where she is found by young Pazu (James Van Der Beek), who offers to protect her.

Pazu has been in search of the mythical Laputa, a mysterious floating island found by his father, but no one else believes him.  Sheeta learns that she belongs in Laputa, and her amulet is the key to finding the island, which is why everyone wants it.  Their adventure leads them through some visually beautiful landscapes and unites the most opposite of people for the betterment of humankind.

Who is involved in the movie?
Anna Paquin voices Sheeta, the young girl who holds a mysterious tie to Laputa. She delivers a capable performance but is rather off-putting when she switches to a British accent for no reason several times throughout.
James Van Der Beek voices Pazu, a young, spirited, optimistic, head-in-the-clouds boy who seeks an adventure to find the island of Laputa.  While the character was endearing and exciting, Van Der Beek's voice acting has a bit to be desired.
Cloris Leachman voices Dola, the leader of the air pirates who seek Sheeta and her amulet.  While on the onset it seems she's a villain, she actually has a heart of gold and offers some truly hilarious moments, and Leachman has the perfect voice for the role.
Mark Hamill voices Muska, the evil government agent set on finding Laputa and turning it into his own private paradise.  Besides acting as Luke Skywalker, Hamill has lent his voice to numerous different films, television series and video games, and he's so good at it you can't even tell it was his voice coming out of Muska.
The film also features Richard Dysart, Jim Cummings, Mandy Patinkin and Andy Dick as supporting roles.
The film was directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which is obvious due to the subject manner, animation, and overall tone of the film.  Once again, he directs a beautiful, epic masterpiece that once again proves he's the one of the most talented directors of our time.

Why should you see this movie?
First I'm going to discuss what I didn't like about the movie, and it's both very minuscule, but something I need to mention. I never saw the non-dubbed version, but in the dubbed version the voice acting of Anna Paquin and James Van Der Beek aren't the best.  Paquin frequently dips in-and-out of a British accent for no discernible reason, and Van Der Beek's voice really doesn't match Pazu's appearance.  Still, both are very small negatives in an otherwise stellar film.

Now to the positive.  There's so many good things to say about "Castle in the Sky" that I wouldn't be able to fully mention it all.  You can tell this is a Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece with the overarching themes of nature versus man, unifying of unique characters and the blend of the mythical and common worlds. 

Laputa is a floating island, a castle in the sky, that once was home to a great civilization.  Now almost completely overrun by nature, the castle itself has been swallowed by the natural order of things, and it looks absolutely brilliant and beautiful.  Yet it's also in this landscape that the government wants to find this island to use as a weapon, and uses every man-made thing to achieve their goals, which naturally collides with the nature aspect of the movie, something Miyazaki is known for contrasting in pretty much all of his movies.  It's a stark contrast when you see the colorful beauty of nature against the dark, bleak-colored world of machines and humans.

If you've seen any Miyazaki film, you know he likes to combine different characters that you'd never imagine would work together.  Here he brings together Sheeta and Pazu with Dola and her air pirates to unite against the common foe, Muska.  At first it seemed like Dola was after Sheeta to destroy her, but it was just for her amulet and the gold that's said to be on Laputa, and she soon comes across as a sympathetic and even enjoyable character, much like Miyazaki's other works.  It's this connection that's the heart of the film, and shows that even humans can be as beautiful as the nature around them.

Finally there's the blend of the mythical and common.  Pazu's hometown is humdrum, pale, and lacking vibrant colors, whereas Laputa is shown in dizzying light and wonder, with vivid colors and animations, which helps to bolster our own sense of adventure, to seek that which is mythical and find the true beauty in it.  Much like his other works, the animations and colors used in "Castle in the Sky" is nothing short of monumental - 69,262 traditional cels and 381 colors were used in the film, making it a painstaking task to bring to life (especially since it was released in 1986, when you'd be forgiven if you thought it was something much more recent).

Once again, Miyazaki manages to make our imaginations soar and leaves us with a child-like wonder at the world around us.  Once again we're gifted with a masterpiece of animated film.  Once again we're left in awe at the brilliance of the maestro of Asian animation.  

When should you see this movie?
Whenever you want to see a magical animated adventure that sends your imagination and your soul soaring.

Where does this movie fall on the grading scale?
A