I am very certain at some point, after watching a film, everyone of you thought "this is a great idea, it's too bad they didn't do much with it". Well, this is how i felt watching The Secret World of Arrietty, a film that has a lot of promises based on it's premise, but sadly suffers from the plot being way too thin for it's own good.This is not to say this is a bad movie. In fact, i enjoyed a lot of it's good qualities that you've come to expect from Ghibli productions, such as the fantastic art, the soundtrack, and the clever design choices for it's fantasy elements. But, taking those things for granted, and compared to a lot of this company's films, this one sadly just doesn't live up to my expectations.The story revolves around this little girl called Arrietty, who lives with a family of tiny people called "Borrowers" that live hidden inside the houses of normal people. The conflict arises when Spiller, the boy from the house, discovers the existence of these tiny creatures.The creativity of the movie shines with the way the borrowers use household objects that the people drop or don't use and them utilizes them for their everyday lives. For example, during the film Arrietty finds a needle and uses it as a sword, being this her first borrowing. It's also neat watching the tiny people navigate through the house, having to make it through obstacles to get to where they need to. One detail that i really liked is the pictures Arrietty's grandmother places in their windows, helping her reach her ideal image of the house she wishes to live in.And… that's about the only thing the movie excels at. Everything else is just "ok". The characters are fine, but unremarkable, none of them really made an impression on me, and in fact i was quite annoyed at how underplayed their emotions were during the important emotional scenes of the movie, where i feel like they should've been far more intense.One could say that everything in this movie is small and subtle, however i think the situations presented (discovering that there's a race of little people, being forcefully moved from your house) called for more emotional reactions from the characters.The movie is also fairly thin on plot. I'm not saying it should've been some complicated, 2 hour long movie with an insane complex plot, but the downtime in the film is just too much in my opinion, especially since most of the time there's not a lot of interesting or thought provoking imagery to watch while the plot takes a break (i should mention that the screenplay was written by Hayao Miyazaki himself, based on the Mary Norton novel "The Borrowers").The main villain's motivations are fairly weak. It's never really explained why she wants to get rid of the tiny people. I assumed she saw them as plague, and they were stealing their stuff, but why didn't Spiller reveal to the old lady that they could talk? They could've solved their differences through dialogue. Instead of just playing dumb, Spiller could've done much more to protect the little people once Arrietty started talking to him.I know this might seem like i'm reaching a bit, but it seriously bothered me that i felt so apathetic towards the villain, and in consequence, the movie's main conflict. I never felt like the characters were in real danger at any point because the stakes were so low.Although the music, the visuals and animation were fairly nice, there wasn't any particularly memorable moment, any outstanding shot, or anything that would stick with me after the movie ended. Well… some bits, but not much for an hour and a half film.Now don't get me wrong, i think the movie is decent and has a lot of good things going for it, especially it's great set pieces and overall laid back tone and pace. If someone told me this was their favorite Ghibli film, i wouldn't question them. But for me, this movie lacked that special "something" that makes other Ghibli movies great fun to watch for me, even with their slow pace.If you are a fan of Ghibli, or maybe a fan of slow, comfortable films in general then i'd say give this a try, it might just be a film you end up loving.6/10see my far more detailed reviews at http://movienights.tumblr.com/

Okay, let me get this out of the way right now. This is NOT a kids movie. Well, let me rephrase that: It's not aimed at kids but kids can watch it. This movie is much more about atmosphere and tender character moments. It's story on the other hand, sort of moves and meanders without too much focus. However, unlike movies other movies that took forever to get started, I didn't mind it because the characters were just that endearing. However, I can see the slow pace and more quiet atmosphere being a huge problem for many kids. If I were to recommend this, I'd say that older kids (Maybe around 11 or 12) and adults would enjoy and appreciate this movie.

Affectionately crafted, mesmerisingly told & gorgeously photographed, The Secret World of Arrietty (simply known as Arrietty) is quite possibly the best Studio Ghibli feature-length film that wasn't directed by Hayao Miyazaki. A masterwork of staggering beauty, it is undoubtedly one of the most enchanting works of animation to surface on the film canvas.Based on the children's book The Borrowers by Mary Norton, the story of Arrietty concerns its titular character & her family; a group of tiny people on the brink of extinction who live anonymously in human residents & have made their home by borrowing simple items from their households. But things are set in motion when Arrietty is discovered by a human boy.Co-written by Hayao Miyazaki & directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi in what is his directional debut, Arrietty exhibits an astonishing level of craftsmanship from the first frame to the last plus the fully-realised world of borrowers is brought to life with remarkable care, intimacy & attention to detail. All the characters here are well-defined & the voice cast is wisely chosen as well.The hand-drawn animation is brilliantly executed for Arrietty is one of Studio Ghibli's most colourful works & makes vibrant use of colour palette, resulting in every frame being finely balanced in both hues & textures. Editing is smartly carried out too for the story unfolds in an elegant, smooth manner & showcases an excellent sense of pacing throughout its 95 minutes of runtime.And last but not the least is the background score by Cécile Corbel that turned this already wonderful cinematic experience into an even more delightful, heartwarming & enriching one. Music has the ability to make or break a film for it is the soul of most narratives and in case of Arrietty, the flavours, heart, warmth & magic its storyline resonates all the time has a lot to do with this very aspect.On an overall scale, The Secret World of Arrietty is a spellbinding work of its genre that has a very sweet, tender & graceful quality about it and is a cinematic delight for viewers of all ages. Plus, for a first time director, it's an extremely impressive start & it's gonna be really interesting to see where he goes from here. Another fabulous piece of fantasy from Studio Ghibli that's enjoyable, entertaining, emotionally fulfilling & effortlessly relatable, Arrietty comes highly recommended.

A straight-up adaptation of Mary Norton's classic children's book THE BORROWERS, made by the superlative Japanese Studio Ghibli. This has all of the elements we've come to expect from our Ghibli movies, such as excellent production values and wonderful animation, all combined with emotion and heart that makes their movies difficult to dislike.And, indeed, ARRIETTY is such a film. The story is simplicity in itself, an action-orientated tale about the adventures that arise when a hidden family of 'little people' living beneath the floorboards come into contact with humankind for the first time. It's straightforward, with readily-realised characters and few twist and turns. And yet it's eminently watchable thanks to the decent voice acting and the way that emotions are readily identifiable.The story may be a little too saccharine for all tastes, but I find this sort of material to be much more honest and realistic than the shove-it-in-your-face sentimentality of a rival Disney-made movie. Just make sure you avoid the Disney dub and watch the subtitled version instead!