The Wind Rises

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. I was disappointed by Miyazaki's "swan song" effort. Several of his other animated movies outstrip this one in almost every category. The only thing that I could praise about "The Wind Rises" is the animation itself. The film is beautifully rendered. The story, however, leaves much to be desired. As a friend of mine who also saw the movie put it," It's a mood film." The main character remains a largely one-dimensional person singularly but benignly obsessed with crafting airplanes - except in his relationship with his dying wife where his obsession provokes obscene neglect of her. The movie also gives extremely short shrift to the fact that the airplane that the main character finally makes is a weapon of war that destroys many people. There is only brief, cursory acknowledgement of this fact in the movie, which I found bizarre. The film seems to want to glide along the surface of life, willfully ignoring the dark, difficult issues boiling beneath. I expect Miyazaki wanted to present a gentle, harmless slice-of-life movie, but "The Wind Rises" ends up being grossly superficial, treating very serious issues it touches on with inappropriate disinterest. As I said, this film is disappointing.