The Boy and the Beast

The film is so clearly a Hosoda, it reeks of him in every frame. It's true that some scenes felt unnecessary, but I still enjoyed the film. It took me a while to get into it at the beginning, but as time went on they all grew on me and I let them "enchant" me. Although I felt that some of the directions the story took were a bit too goal-oriented, as was the arrival of some of the characters, I figured it was just a fairy tale so those kind of devices were fine. Actually, it's nothing more than a magical tale about talking animals, a fable (?) that of course has a moral. Nothing extraordinary. But I liked it. A weaker 4 stars. (19/03/2016)

The Boy and the Beast has definitely got quite a few shortcomings. It is way too long for a start, sometimes does not make any sense at all, and the ending is way too hectic. The movie's message about everyone having a dark side that they have to fight gets somewhat lost in the mess of CGI. On the other hand, it has an interesting, enjoyable, and nicely animated narrative, plus a great soundtrack and likable characters. I really enjoyed watching them, and they kept me entertained for the first two-thirds of this movie (I already mentioned the ending, which I did not think was very good, it was too upbeat and rosy, which did not suit the overall mood at all). So, to sum up, Mamoru Hosoda did not disappoint me too much, although it was not deep enough compared to Wolf Children, not as amusing as Summer Wars, and less interesting compared to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I guess so far this is perhaps Hosoda's weakest movie of the past ten years, even though I think it is still above-average in general. 6.7/10. (13/03/2016)

It's a shame that the film was obviously already counted on as an export beforehand, as the constant violent reminders of the characters' motivations and the completely unnecessary cute little luminous creature that colonizes the hero's ample armpit dilute an otherwise quite compelling story with many enjoyable details. Aside from the lavish production design, which allows some epic scenes to stand out (the whale in the streets of Tokyo is the only thing that saves the ending from a mind-numbing set-up), what makes The Boy and the Beast an interesting family film is the reversal of established roles. The calm, patient, and measured martial arts masters are here a laughing stock with their closed-mindedness and stubbornness, while the choleric bullies show that they still have something to say to the world if nudged in the right direction. (28/08/2016)

Another beautiful example of Japanese animation, where at first glance you feel like it's just something that follows classic fantasy stories about the Monkey King, but in reality it's more of a movie that takes the best from the action genre and brings it into a realm where it is accessible to children. Nevertheless, it manages to express strong emotions. (27/06/2016)