Mune: Guardian of the Moon

It is so refreshing to find an original story beautifully and simply told without being overblown. It avoids many of the Disney clichés with regards to evil villains who are simply "boo" fodder, sidekicks who are there only to provide comedy relief etc. Instead we have characters who are flawed rather than being simply good or bad. It is almost Zeussian in its weirdness, but the fantasy all adds to its gentle charm.

This movie is straight up eye candy, right up there with Disney & Pixar productions. I watched Mune with my 4 year old and was instantly drawn to the beautiful animations. There were major Salvador Dali & Hayao Miyazaki influences in this dream world. I really can't praise the animators enough for the beauty they created in this film The story was lovely, despite some of the characters falling into cliche stereotypes (looking at you Sohone)

This is a movie I would've loved to have seen as a kid and I am really glad I was able to enjoy it with my own child. Highly recommended for families to watch together, just know that there are some scary scenes so be prepared to reassure sensitive children that the good guys will overcome the bad ones.

Animation - All around the animation in this movie is just beautiful. All the different visuals and ideas in this movie are just wonderful. This is worth watching just for the appearance alone.

Story - This is a movie that is full of brilliant concepts, but they don't all tie into each other very well. The pacing is all over the place. Maybe if the movie was longer or had a better script it could've worked better. The only version I could find was with the English dub, and not the original though. Maybe some of it is more interesting in the original and maybe the story flows smoother, but based on the length of scenes I doubt it. The story isn't terrible, just a bit disjointed and generic at times.

Characters - This movie is a bit light on the character development. It probably could've spent more time on developing any of the characters. Honestly one of the biggest problems with this movie is that it is way too short.

Glim - (this bit might contain spoilers) Glim is a character whose concept is more interesting than her personality. She is a person made of candle wax that melts when too hot and freezes when too cold. Its kind of a cool idea. The problem is, she is completely unnecessary. Glim combines two of the tropes I hate the most - completely bland an unnecessary love interest, and the fake-out death. She could've been removed from the story completely (along with those "comic relief" demon things) and nothing would've been changed. The only reason I can see for why she is in the movie is so that there is a female character. If the movie really needed a female character though then why not make one of the guardians a girl?

I watch a lot of movies, and most of them are fairly forgettable. So I was surprised to find that this obscure film was so fantastic. When I saw it on the shelf I thought it would be one of those horrible cut rate movies from some off brand studio. How wrong I was. This movie is of a different flavor and style than what you would see from the Hollywood giants, and that is a good thing. It has the most unique take on cgi animation I've ever seen. Rather than having the bland digital perfection of the style you see coming from Pixar, Blue Sky, Dreamworks, Illumination, Warner Brothers, Sony Animation, etc... this film has a more painterly look. The world building is so magical and memorable. The character designs are great! The only downside is that you can tell the dialogue has lost something in translation and the voice performances are as average as they come, and some are miscast. Other than that this has found it's place on my top ten list of animated films. Highly reccomendend!

Wonderful, Charming, Cheeky and lots of Heart for the Whole family, in the Ghibli story telling tradition and imagery.

It has a blend of 3D animation and 2D dream sequences...

It seems like a fairytale you should know but have forgotten. And thats the pity, the story telling is great, the animation is lovely and English voice actors did a great job.

It's the story of the Sun and the Moon, and the Guardians that protect them.

This animated feature deserves an Audience. Do yourself a favour and grab it