Michael's Movie Grade: A-
An incredibly charming and beautiful animated fantasy film from Japan.
This movie is everything a family film should be. The film takes place in a fantasy world, where men made of garbage can come to life and become friends with human boys. Yet this fantasy becomes utterly believable due to just how real these two characters feel. They are not simply one note personalities or excuses for the fantasy but real living and breathing characters. The human boy possesses many of the best qualities about kids his age. He is full of curiosity (plus the determination to find out and learn even when it gets dangerous) and childlike faith in what he believes in. Perhaps it is appropriate that it is the adults who simply accept what they can see as all there is, while this young boy dares to see what is past all the smoke. This shows us what we have unfortunately left behind us as we grew up and perhaps a part of ourselves, we should have not left behind. Yet he is still deep down just a boy and can be careless or naive and let his emotions get the better of him. The garbage man was quite literally born yesterday and that is shown here. While he is not exactly born a child (like the boy), he possesses a childlike naivety and a sense of awe and wonder of everything around him. At the same time, he is incredibly trusting and not aware of how dangerous the world is around him. While this can understandably frustrate the boy at times, it is also what endears the garbage man to him and to us. More than just being great characters, the relationship between them feels completely real and natural. It is also incredibly touching. The twist towards the end about their relationship is perfect and may bring a tear to even a full-grown adult's eyes. This movie also does a perfect job of making the world it takes place in feel wonderful and magical, yet at the same time sinister and dangerous. This is not an easy balance to find, and this movie does it beautifully. The story is also incredibly smart. It works equally well as a children's fantasy story and as an intelligent and thought-provoking social commentary.
If I were to find fault with this movie, it would be that not all the humor works, and I am not a fan of the opening Halloween song. Still, these are small faults for such a great movie.
A must watch.
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