Parent reviews for Tales from Earthsea

🐉

Meh

I wanted to be one of the few people who could enjoy this film. Going into it, I kept thinking it can't possibly be as bad as everyone says and good lord, it's so boring and predictable! Technically speaking, Pom Poko by a story standpoint is bad, but it's enjoyable with the way its executed. The same cannot be said for Earthsea. The story does have a good concept but it's poorly handled and the characters are bland and boring as can be. Aside from the animations, there's just nothing here. Not to mention some plot points really don't make sense, like... why is the girl classified as ugly? Because she has a burn mark? If anything, the scar makes her look more attractive, so that could have been more of a fault on the animators' part. The main character isn't likable in the slightest. You understand his depression, but his personality never really goes beyond that. The script is also terrible. I'm sure if Hayao Miyazaki had done this instead of his son, it would have been much better. Heck, an interesting thing to note is that Hayao actually scolded his son for how bad this film is. If you want to see a Ghibli film, skip this one.

Any positive messages that are found in this movie are lost in the frightening imagery and violent sequences. This is not a kids movie. The concepts of Death being important and a motivator to live life are too complex for most children. The sweet moments between the children are overshadowed by an evil wizard who is bent on killing them... He drugs the boy to steal his life/soul and strangles the girl while turning into an eyeless sharp toothed blob. In the ensuing battle - it shows in graphic detail - the evil wizards hand being hacked off - blood and all - flying through the air... I could only cringe and apologize to my kids for picking such a violent movie.