Kiki's Delivery Service

Playfulness

All too often, Hayao Miyazaki's films near greatness, but don't attain it. He is either restrainedly creative (which is disappointing like in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO), or arrogantly idealistic (see HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE). In his early 00's film, SPIRITED AWAY, I found my Miyazaki match of unrestrained creativity and dark silliness. But here, with KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, Miyazaki has crafted a masterpiece. The film tells of an world that can only be described as an alternate one. There, witches exist in small towns, inhabiting them and providing small public services. They act in olden ways, sending their small daughters off at 13 to learn to be witches. Kiki (Kirsten Dunst), the daughter of a potion-making witch, leaves home with her black cat Jiji (Phil Hartman) and tries to find a home by the ocean. Miyazaki delivers some entertaining sequences centering around Kiki's plight. These are lighthearted and essentially tame sequences, but they contain some tension that TOTORO especially lacked. This tension works perfectly as a statement on city life and importance within it. KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE is especially good at creating this world, and his obligatory creative characters just help to make the film episodically enjoyable.
Kiki's Delivery Service: ★★★1/2