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13 of 44 people found this review helpful
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1 of 1 episodes seen
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Laputa is a lot like a much loved TV series from years gone by called Nadia, which isn't too shocking when you consider that the director of Laputa came up with the concept of the Nadia story.
If you don't know how the story of Nadia goes: Nadia is about a girl with a mysterious pendant who is chased by pirates and a secret organization because of the pendants power, which is somehow connected the lost land of Atlantis. She spends most of her time running with a boy, who happens to be an inventor, in an attempt to evade her pursuers.
If you replace the names in the above with Laputa names, you'd have the same plot description. When it come down to it, I like Nadia more because of the added character development and more likeable characters. If they were both TV series and Laputa had had more time given to it, there probably wouldn't be much in it, though.
The first half of the film wasn't amazing. A girl falls from the sky, gets found by a boy, the two bond waaaaaay too quickly and end up running away together, the girl gets captured and the boy saves her - that pretty much sums it up. It was predictable and I wasn't able to connect with the characters because of the lack of development since the focus had been almost fully on running away from people.
The second half was better. The duo joined a pirate ship and, for a short period, the focus switched to the smaller picture. Then, everyone finally reached the castle in the sky; the goal of the journey. This reminded me the themes of adventure and exploration in Grandia, where a young adventurer sets off on a journey in order to reach Alent - a place of legend that no-one knows if real. It wasn't exactly exciting when the story reached the castle in the sky in Laputa because it hadn't taken much time or effort for the main characters to reach it (at least not when compared to longer stories), but it did make me feel kind of nostalgic and also allowed me to get into the story more.
...anyway, moving on, the story became much more interesting and difficult to predict. There was still the same running away and chasing that had gone before, but the new and unknown setting made it come across in a different light. Where as I'd been able to take breaks before the castle section of the story because of a lack of interest, my eyes were now glued to the screen. And, while some of what occurred at the end was a tad too convenient (the placement of a ship, for example), the end did leave me satisfied. It would've been nice if an epilogue had been added in after the credits, though...
To sum it up, Laputa is a classic worthy of its praise. I wouldn't go as far as to call it perfect due to me being unable to connect with the main two characters because of a lack of time spent on development, and the first half was a little on the boring side at times. However, it's hard to deny that Laputa is a charming film that has aged well, both in terms of the visuals and story. If you're a fan of adventure stories, look this up.
Rating: 8/10
If you don't know how the story of Nadia goes: Nadia is about a girl with a mysterious pendant who is chased by pirates and a secret organization because of the pendants power, which is somehow connected the lost land of Atlantis. She spends most of her time running with a boy, who happens to be an inventor, in an attempt to evade her pursuers.
If you replace the names in the above with Laputa names, you'd have the same plot description. When it come down to it, I like Nadia more because of the added character development and more likeable characters. If they were both TV series and Laputa had had more time given to it, there probably wouldn't be much in it, though.
The first half of the film wasn't amazing. A girl falls from the sky, gets found by a boy, the two bond waaaaaay too quickly and end up running away together, the girl gets captured and the boy saves her - that pretty much sums it up. It was predictable and I wasn't able to connect with the characters because of the lack of development since the focus had been almost fully on running away from people.
The second half was better. The duo joined a pirate ship and, for a short period, the focus switched to the smaller picture. Then, everyone finally reached the castle in the sky; the goal of the journey. This reminded me the themes of adventure and exploration in Grandia, where a young adventurer sets off on a journey in order to reach Alent - a place of legend that no-one knows if real. It wasn't exactly exciting when the story reached the castle in the sky in Laputa because it hadn't taken much time or effort for the main characters to reach it (at least not when compared to longer stories), but it did make me feel kind of nostalgic and also allowed me to get into the story more.
...anyway, moving on, the story became much more interesting and difficult to predict. There was still the same running away and chasing that had gone before, but the new and unknown setting made it come across in a different light. Where as I'd been able to take breaks before the castle section of the story because of a lack of interest, my eyes were now glued to the screen. And, while some of what occurred at the end was a tad too convenient (the placement of a ship, for example), the end did leave me satisfied. It would've been nice if an epilogue had been added in after the credits, though...
To sum it up, Laputa is a classic worthy of its praise. I wouldn't go as far as to call it perfect due to me being unable to connect with the main two characters because of a lack of time spent on development, and the first half was a little on the boring side at times. However, it's hard to deny that Laputa is a charming film that has aged well, both in terms of the visuals and story. If you're a fan of adventure stories, look this up.
Rating: 8/10
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