StoryKiki’s Delivery Service is, first and foremost, a children’s film. From
the eighties. Also it’s a coming-of-age story, and unless those are done
reeeeeeeally well, they can induce a hard-core snooze-fest. But hot
damn, it eschewed all these possible pitfalls, and became one of the
only Miyazaki films I actively like.
The film pulls off its slice-of-life portions stunningly, to the point
where it becomes easy to overlook all the happy coincidences that Kiki runs into. Every instance of "no, there aren't any witches living here,
so why don't you!" or "well, honey, you can live in my house for FREE!"
receive a free pass since the young witch's trials of adjusting to her
new life, financial difficulties, and making it (sort of) on her own for
the first time are so engaging. I just sat there with this big silly
grin on my face because somehow all the boring things this boring girl
did felt fresh and deserving of viewers' full attention.
Everything moves along spiffily until the contrived conflict arrives out
of the blue. It substantially detracts from the film’s value by
introducing threads that are completely unnecessary and jarringly
incongruent from the established pace. When Kiki’s
[SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER], I couldn’t help but lose interest and think
that, yeah, I’ve seen that all before, booooooring. Sure, the movie’s a
bit aged, but that climax (and it’s resolution, which was similarly
handled in the most cliché and over-used way possible) was nothing new
in the 80s.AnimationThat town is handsome. For realsies. No wonder Kiki fell in love with it.
As for the animation- Kiki’s Delivery Service is a Ghibli film. It looks
like a Ghibli film. And for once, I mean that in the most sincere,
complimentary way possible. The character designs are adorable, the
backgrounds are über-gorgeous, and movement is consistently fluent.
Studio Ghibli has this whole thing down to some sort of movie-animating
science. Or witchcraft, I’ve yet to decide which. This category doesn't
deserve top marks because the animation didn’t have that extra
something-something that makes it stand out from everything ever made
ever, but nonetheless it was incredibly solid.SoundAnother thing I like about Ghibli is the ace casting- and with that
giant budget, of course they’re gonna hire the best. Additionally, in
typical Disney fashion, the dub voices are all sorts of super. Only the
most hardened anti-dub fanatic could find fault with it. Or one that
finds Phil Hartman’s performance as Jiji abrasive.
I, however, adored this casting, as it gave him this great smarmy voice
that augmented his constant chiding of Kiki and absolutely everything
she set her mind to. It’s like he was saying everything I was thinking,
albeit in a more irritating and plot-relevant manner!CharactersQuite the mixed bag. Kiki is the standard Studio Ghibli female
protagonist- vaguely spunky, eternally optimistic, and sporting youthful
attractiveness and a personality virtually indistinguishable from the
likes of Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle, Totoro’s Satsuki, a potato,
or any of the oodles of Ghibli leading-lady clones. Hell, even the
Disney princesses have more variation (and I’m not just referring to
their wardrobes, either). Making over two decades of movies with the
exact same heroine is ridiculous. At the very least, please toss in some
interesting character flaws (and no, Kiki’s eye roll-inducing conduct
towards Tombo doesn’t count).
Apart from the mains, the supporting cast included the standard “nice
old lady”, “guy who looks big and scary but is actually nice”, “lady who
is so nice, you wonder why she hasn’t been robbed blind yet”, and
“person who is nice and has no other distinguishing characteristics”.
None of them played a huge role in the narrative, so their blandness can
largely be overlooked.OverallFree from the environmental themes that usually plague Miyazaki’s work,
Kiki’s Delivery Service is an endearing film. Like most of the studio’s
work, much of its charm is culled from nostalgia, but even the
uninitiated can find plenty to enjoy. Recommended for people who enjoy
calm stories and won't get hung up over insipid characterization. Those
who enjoy meatier yarns may want to steer clear.