Majo no takkyûbin

Sometimes a movie debuts and you wonder why they bothered making it in the first place--such is the case with a new remake of the Studio Ghibli film Kiki's Delivery Service. The original film was a cartoon from famed director Hayao Miyazaki--and it's undoubtedly among his finest movies. The animation is lovely---very fluid and with a wonderfully odd town that looks a bit like Japan and a bit like Europe and it's filled with flying machines and zeppelins! But, the story really works well because the story (originally written by Eiko Kadono) is so enjoyable and sweet. So why remake a film that is nearly perfect in every way?! And, why change the story when it was already quite magical?!

The basic story is the same. Kiki is a 13 year-old witch, who, according to tradition, must leave her town and live in a strange non-magical town for a year while she practices her magic. Needing a job to survive, she uses her flying broom to create a delivery service--hence the title of the story. However, on several points it's different--and sometimes not for the better. Instead of trying to inspire and befriend an artist, Kiki does the same with a famous singer who has lost her voice--this change really didn't bother me. And, I could understand using a town that looks like Japan since it would be awfully expensive to create the sort of world in the original film...though it loses something because of this and the lack of flying machines and zeppelins. But, a whole new plot involving an injured baby hippo is a serious detriment--mostly because the CGI for the baby is pretty awful by today's standards. It simply looks very fake most of the time--which is so sad because the flying sequences of Kiki on her broom are so very, very good. More importantly, however, this entire plot just seemed unnecessary and took up a huge chunk of the film.

So am I saying that this new live-action film is bad? No. I am sure people will enjoy it. But why watch it if there is a much better version already available and already seen by many as a timeless classic?

The final scores: The original--10 The remake--7 (and this might be a bit generous)

Like many others, when I first heard about the live action adaptation of Kiki's Delivery Service I was intrigued as to how it would compare (maybe unfairly so) to the beloved Miyazaki masterpiece. Would it capture that same magic or would it take a different tack? Perhaps it would be more aligned to the source book than Miyazaki's adaptation? Well the film starts off strong, with a lavish witch's den and the caring parents sending their head-strong girl into the wide world. The initial flying sequences were beautifully shot but then the film lands into familiar JDrama territory when Kiki wakes up in the local zoo. The film than plods along in a predictable fashion onto the conclusion. It has Kiki's struggle to discover herself through adversity and hardship. It has Kiki learning to trust other people and to be trusted herself. What it didn't have was some of that film magic that would have set it higher or made it any more memorable.

The original, animated version of Kiki's Delivery Service is so pitch-perfect that it doesn't seem possible that they'd dare come out with a live-action version.

Only rarely does a live-action version of an anime equal the original. With live-action, it's almost like trying to translate from one language to another; some of the actors are good (and others ordinary), and the story conveys only some of the wide- eyed wonder of the original. Fuka Koshiba has a petulant optimism (and a little brattiness) the fills out the title character; JiJi, the talking black cat could have played a bigger part of the movie. Fans of Japanese film will notice a few interesting casting choices - like Asano Tadanobu and Rie Miyazawa.

Ultimately, changing this to a live-action film makes it seem more suited for children (as opposed to the anime version, which is ageless).

That said, I enjoyed much of the film. It's a minor miracle that it's as good as it is.