The Boy and the Heron – Movie Reviews by Ry!

The Boy and the Heron – Ambiguity of Loss and Hope … May I Live?  

Through the imaginative, an idea can blossom into many things.  Within each moment, the idea weaves among thoughtful chance, moving among lines that can strike hearts and minds alike.  For a film, to bring about story is to see what is possible.  No matter the outcome, there’s a hope that the creative can be a magical experience.  In this review, I look at the latest Studio Ghibli film.  Within the aesthetics of anime, we get a journey of colorful intrigue.  For the bits of intrigue that comes through, The Boy and the Heron becomes a colorful mess of lost potential. 

In a world of uncertain loss, a young boy will need to find a way to see purpose in living again.  Anime is a medium that breeds creativity and imaginative appeal.  For Studio Ghibli, they are known for their strong creative films, but go beyond with a gripping sensation of story, character, and heart (ex. Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away).  With this latest entry, the ideas are there … but lead to some lackluster results.  In the beginning, we come into this world through the eyes of a young boy, Mahito (Soma Santoki).  Through his introduction, we learn of a terrible fire that takes many lives, including his mother.  From this tragic moment, we move through a series of scenes that build up plot aesthetics: dad remarries, moving from the city to the country and an adjustment to a new life.  Within these simplistic layers is a genuine buildup of ambiguous threads, as Mahito begins to witness things out of the ordinary.  Through amazing visuals and expositional conversations, he learns about the oddities of the locale.  Within these moments, Mahito begins to interact with a grey heron.  With the introduction of this character, the journey begins to weave between the real and imaginary, providing a childlike innocence within the fragility of the unknown.  From this point, the broad strokes of explanation lead into a journey that will have the audience jockeying between emotional worth and obscurity. 

As Mahito continues down this odd path (with the grey heron), the visual prowess provides wonder in a journey that begins to crumble under unexplained circumstance.  For all the greatness of character creation and world-building, each scene is entrapped within predictable tropes and allegories that fall flat within its attempt at emotional worth.  Mahito’s interactions become a point A to B experience, leaving ancillary characters and ‘important’ revelations to become shallow plot devices.  This hodge podge of a journey leads us into a third act that weaves CGI/visual brilliance within a meandering around forced convictions.  This fragmentation brings about a lackluster resolution within the climax and epilogue.  The Boy and the Heron is a Studio Ghibli film that showcases strength in visuals within a hollow experience.  If you are a fan of anime or Studio Ghibli, you might find something worth seeing here.  The imaginative can provide some fun, but at home on Friday Night.

Full Score – 2.5 out of 5 (Friday Night Rental)