On paper, Tales from Earthsea sounds like an easy homerun. There are some fantastic ingredients here: Studio Ghibli’s legendary history as an animation studio (like every studio, they have a few ups and downs, but they’ve never truly missed), and the strong lore of the Earthsea series developed by an equally legendary fantasy author in Ursula K. Le Guin. And somehow, this film misses the mark, resulting in a film with fantastic sweeping settings, a majestic score, and a muddled, incoherent story. The effect is magnified if you’ve read any of the Earthsea novels, as I have.
Earthsea is out of balance. Dragons have been spotted off the coast for the first time in an age. Crops are withering away to dust. Prince Arren of Enlad (Junichi Okada/Matt Levin) struggles with his mortality and, in a fit, kills his own father for the elder’s magical sword. He wanders aimlessly until he is miraculously rescued by the legendary archmage Sparrowhawk (Bunta Sugawara/Timothy Dalton). Together, along with former priestess Tenar (Jun Fubuki/Mariska Hargitay) and Therru (Aoi Teshima/Blaire Restaneo), the young burn victim that Tenar is caring for, they set out to take down the evil warlock Cob (Yuko Tanaka/Willem Dafoe) from destroying the world in his relentless pursuit of immortality.
There are just too many plot holes and incoherencies in the story for the film to survive, let alone thrive. The Earthsea universe is a wonderful and fantastical place to visit and revisit. But there are intricacies in this universe that need to be explained to the viewer, especially when one is making the choice to effectively smash elements of several Earthsea novels together in one two hour film in an attempt to create a unique story set in the Earthsea universe. Director and co-writer Gorō Miyazaki, in his debut (and at odds with his famed father, if the tales are true, during the production of this film), opted to effectively crush together elements of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore. There’s a lot packed into those novels that should be explained to the viewer somehow in order to give context to some of the more fantastical elements of the movie. But they aren’t, and one is left scratching one’s head wondering why a thing just happened. Even if you are familiar with the novels, it’s a bit much to process.
Violence is rarely a solution to a significant problem in an Earthsea novel. But in this film, violence seems to play a much larger role. When in doubt, hack your way out seems to be a key theme.
On the other hand, Gorō Miyazaki’s background as a landscape architect serves him well here. He and his team have created a vast series of sweeping imagery that makes you want to visit Earthsea, in spite of all of the dangers—both natural and manmade. The image presented when Sparrowhawk and Arren first arrive in Hort Town is absolutely gorgeous, putting an old lived-in city on display and hinting at its many wondrous and dangerous secrets.
The other major highlight is the score provided by composer Tamiya Terashima. He has created a terrific soundscape that helps to bring Earthsea alive. Relying heavily on melodies in modal keys, Earthsea feels ancient and lived in thanks in large part to his terrific music. Heart pounding and pulse pumping music when the action ramps up keeps the viewer as engaged as possible.
Gorō Miyazaki’s directorial debut falls flat. It tries to do too much and too little at the same time with its amazing source material. There are too many unanswered plot holes and too much taken for granted of the viewer’s prior knowledge of Earthsea. It is, however, a visual and musical feast. Tales from Earthsea mostly sucks.
Directed by Gorō Miyazaki.
Written by Gorō Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa.
Starring Bunta Sugawara/Timothy Dalton, Junichi Okada/Matt Levin, Jun Fubuki/Mariska Hargitay, Aoi Teshima/Blaire Restaneo, Yuko Tanaka/Willem Dafoe, etc.
4/10 = WORTH WATCHING, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED (IT MOSTLY SUCKS)
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