On the heels of “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” — a hit 1984 manga adaptation whose success motivated the formation of Studio Ghibli — Miyazaki made this remarkably similar fantasy adventure which expands upon many of the earlier film’s delights.
On the heels of “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” — a hit 1984 manga adaptation whose success motivated the formation of Studio Ghibli — Miyazaki made this remarkably similar fantasy adventure which expands upon many of the earlier film’s delights. For completists, it’s worth circling back to “Nausicaä” (which is not technically a Ghibli production), though that film’s science-fiction tone doesn’t feel nearly as distinct from other anime features of the ’80s, whereas this unmistably Miyazakian follow-up serves as a great introduction to the master’s favorite motifs. High-flying battles between steampunk airships and a group of sky pirates (the leader of whom, Muska, looks an awful lot like the big-nosed witch in “Spirited Away”) forecast the Red Baron-like “Porco Rosso,” while the levitating city of Laputa is as breath-taking a location as the director ever imagined. Laputa, not unlike the Wakanda of “Black Panther,” is a land that feels at once ancient and ultra-modern with its giant asymmetrical robots — dormant automatons designed to protect. The movie’s heroine, Sheeta, has ties to this marvelous floating castle, and while the movie focuses a bit too much attention on all the greedy villains determined to plunder her mythical kingdom, it delivers that incredible sense of discovery that characterizes the best Ghibli outings.