I watched The Wind Rises on its first wide release day in the US. I've been looking forward to it for months and, having watched it finally, here's my review.
So how do I feel about it? Well I must say that Miyazaki has stretched out his message and themes as far as they could go. Therefore, this is the perfect going-out film for him, since it's the best time for Studio Ghibli to begin handing over its reigns to fresh directorial blood. The torch needs to be passed and now is time.
Okay, so the main character Jiro loves airplanes. It is his dream to design airplanes and is very much influenced by Italian aircraft and the pioneering designer/engineer Giovanni Caproni. Images and dream sequences of Caproni lurk inside Jiro's imagination throughout the film, acting as a mediating conscience as he navigates his life through turbulent times. While pursuing his dream of creating beautiful flying machines, Jiro is faced with a changing world with World War II on the horizon, calling for engineers to design fighter planes meant for killing and destruction.
Unavoidably there will be talk of politics and Japanese nationalism here and there, but Miyazaki has always been a neutralist and mediator. The main subject here is about love of aircraft and Japan's ability to design and fly them in a time when the nation was finding a way up. We see Jiro being the spearhead of Japan's first step out of squalor and into a prosperous future, but it must come with some sacrifices and influence from the West.
The movie is well-made, and has that familiar look and style we all know, but I wish it was more. I wish Miyazaki ventured out of familiarity for once and took more expressive risk with the animation medium (like Takahata has). But the main problem with the film for me was Jiro. I couldn't get into his character. The film spent a lot of time with Jiro and his obsession with airplanes, but it was hard for me to care or relate to him about it. In fact, it was difficult for me to get into any of the characters. The romance between Jiro and Naoko wasn't very believable. I was very interested in the Naoko character but unfortunately she was never fully developed as anything other than a slight distraction to Jiro's hard-ons for planes.
Also, those who know Ghibli's catalog quite well know that Miyazaki's movies are thematic retreads of each other in some way. The Wind Rises is no different. The themes in The Wind Rises have been done before in Porco Rosso and Howl's Moving Castle, just like how Nausicaa and Mononoke are thematically similar, as are Kiki and Spirited Away. I couldn't help but think of how great Porco Rosso was (my personal favorite Ghibli film) while watching The Wind Rises. Porco Rosso has a certain charm and mystique about flight that The Wind Rises lacks. I shouldn't be too surprised, as Miyazaki's films, in my opinion, have been going down in quality since Spirited Away (his magnum opus). After all, that's a tough film to try to outdo.
The best thing about the movie was its musical score (Jo Hisaishi is the man). Other than that, The Wind Rises is just a well-done animated film and a decent, modest swansong to Miyazaki's illustrious career. As a longtime fan, though, I wish Miyazaki would've gone out with something extraordinary instead of more of the same.
RATING: 6/10
