I have to admit I’ve never seen this director’s work before (he’s known primarily for high class anime films based off popular children’s stories). So I can’t say I’m a fan necessarily or can compare this to his other films. My gut feeling is that if you like his other films, you’ll probably like this one, but for now let me review this for the uninitiated…
What Works: This film is a remake of The Borrowers—-it should have been called The Borrowers but I guess The Secret World of Arriety is more pleasantly pretentious—-but luckily I never saw that film, so it was all new to me. I had a good time with this, but not a great time. I particularly liked a sequence early on when The Borrowers were doing a nighttime raid on a kitchen in order to snag a sugar cube. It was mysterious, interesting, and had just a hint of suspense…
What Doesn’t Work: …Unfortunately, nothing else in the movie really does. And I think it could have used one more brilliantly staged sequence from The Borrowers point of view. I really have no idea if kids (you know, the people the movie was actually made for) will like it as there were mostly just white and Asian hipsters clogging up the seats at the showtime I attended. The handful that were in the theater seemed bored. And the ending is flat and unsatisfying. I think the movie loses steam the more it continues and the first third is the best part.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Added a few more sequences from The Borrowers point of view. From the first time the full-grown boy sees them, it’s just as much about the humans as The Borrowers but I don’t think that stuff is nearly as interesting.