Mangchi

since there is no other review for this 17 year old movie, I decided to write one.

I originally watched this movie as a kid, and loved it. so I decided to re-watch it. although finding it was a challenge to say the least, I was going to give up, I did multiple times in fact, but the tip of my tongue subreddit somehow pulled it off.

story 5/10

"The story is about a boy named Mangchi. He is small, but he possesses a magical hammer that helps him get around all his problems. Mangchi lives on a small distant island called Candlestick because everywhere else has turned ... into a wasteland because of some big catastrophe. When Princess Poplar from the kingdom of Jemius is being pursued by henchmen of the conspirator Moonk, Hammerboy sides with her, ready to unleash all his latent powers in order to save humankind.

The movie premiered at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 30 2003, and went into wide release in South Korea on August 6, 2004.

(Source: Wikipedia)"


well the "everywhere else has turned into wasteland " part was barely hinted at, but I say the wiki got the synopsis right, so I'm going to write about everything else.

the story has a problem with it's pacing, but it's not THAT bad. everything just seems slightly slower and more often faster than it should be, which is annoying, but not the end of the world.

the writing, is ok. I'm going to give it credit for some of it's choices and plot points, but most often than not the story is just kind of generic.

and as far as the actual order of events goes, it's pretty good. the idea had potential to make this movie a solid 7/10, but sadly the pacing, the writing and specially the directing, stopped that from happening.

Art 3.5/10

now the art and animation were actually solid, a little weak for a movie that came out in 2004, but still, solid. the main problem is the directing, which was the worst part of the movie. it feels like the movie was directed by someone who is not a director.

the shots are just so boring. the transitions are off putting at times, and the action feels stiff and unnatural. now it's not garbage, but it's bad, and it is this movie's biggest downfall.

sound 7/10

I'm not going to talk rate the voice acting, since I didn't watch the movie in it's original language, but the music is really solid. if there was one thing that lived up to my expectation, it was the music.

it was no masterpiece, but a very solid soundtrack nonetheless.

characters 5/10

most of the characters are basic. with the villain being especially 1 dimensional. they aren't bad, they aren't great, they are just MEH. although I have to say, because of Poltapo (I hope I spelled it right) I kind of want to give it a 6. he wasn't that special either, but he was just kind of charming I guess? and he was the closest thing this movie had to having proper character development.


enjoyment 5/10

even with my massive nostalgia boner, I still started to get bored during the second half. It is a kids movie, and not one that is also trying to appeal to the older audience, so don't go in with high expectations.

overall 5/10

as much as it hurts to say this, it's one of the most 5/10 movies I have seen. I really wanted this to be a second castle in the sky, but it really isn't.

but hey, it's still a decent watch, specially if you know someone younger to watch this with.

well that's all I had to say, thanks for reading.

I hope you have a great rest of your day/night

peace :D