Eh, let's just call Tales from Earthsea a case of growing pains for Goro Miyazaki. 

It's not a bad movie. It's just unremarkable in every way. It doesn't have the creativity, emotional depth, or beauty of Spirited Away, the visual wonder of Howl's Moving Castle, the scope of adventure of Castle in the Sky, the lovable characters of Kiki's Delivery Service, or the sheer delight and fun of Ponyo. 

If I had to choose a defining feature for Earthsea, I honestly don't know what it would be. The music is fine, but nothing extraordinary. The character designs and artwork are dangerously close to generic, the story lacks tension and feels almost inconsequential, and the writing is bland. Where's the heart? Where's the humor, the passion, or something that would draw me into the narrative?

I found myself not caring much about what was happening, and more concerned with how much time was left until the movie was over, than anything else. My  expectations for Studio Ghibli are far too high to embrace a movie like this that barely scrapes above mediocrity, and from what I've heard from fans of the Earthsea literature, this isn't the adaptation they were hoping for, either.

A strange occurrence of one dragon killing another dragon is witness during a storm at sea. Prince Arren stabs and kills his father, the King of Enlad. Wizard Sparrowhawk rescues Arren from a pack of wolves. The two find the land troubled by pestilence and something even much worst. Farms are abandoned. Slave traders prosper. In the town, Arren rescues the girl Therru from the slaver Hare. Hare reports to his master Lord Cob who rules the land. Arren is haunted by a spirit that looks exactly like him.

I haven't read any of the books and is a novice to the world of Earthsea. I think that I'm not getting the whole picture of this world. The movie needs to explain this world more clearly to even an idiot like me. The confusion comes from the strange concepts that seems to come out of nowhere. I'm also not happy with the voice work. Some voices don't seem to fit but more annoying is the constant monotone whispering. The awkward dialog doesn't help either. The animation is reasonable with a lot of the Ghibli style. The story shows some promise but it lacks a certain cohesiveness. It also lacks drama. The bad guy can't just walk away if he can put the hero in danger but that's what Hare does when he finds Arren. There is just a few too many problems and not enough fun adventure.

As many have guessed I am very fond of Studio Ghibli and their films. While I did like it in general, Tales from Earthsea lacked that extra something that made me love Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Whisper of the Heart and Castle in the Sky as much as I did. The storytelling is rather clumsy and hackneyed in places, and some of the dialogue is rather hit and miss, and I also thought there was some lethargic pacing in the middle. However, the animation is absolutely gorgeous and the music is beautiful too. The characters are decent and likable enough, and the voice work from the likes of Timothy Dalton and Willem Dafoe is fine. Overall, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox