Laputa: Castle in the Sky is another film from the man who is responsible for anime movies like Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Princess Mononoke. That's right, it's a Miyazaki movie! With help from the usual Ghibli composer, Jo Hisaishi, Miyazaki has created another unforgettable classic that is sure to brighten up anybody's day.

Laputa is a bit different from the rest of his films, though. It's much more dramatic than many of his other films, concentrating less on visuals and developing the world around the characters and more on the characters themselves. However, this helped control the pace of the story. It never went too quickly or too slowly, it always seemed to flow just right. Another thing that I really liked about Laputa is that there was an interesting action sequence right off the bat that pulled me into the movie immediately.

Needless to say, the storytelling was absolutely fantastic. Not a single loose end is left untied, all of the characters are developed to perfection, and everything just flows so smoothly. This is all complimented by the music which meets Hisaishi's astronomical standards (see: Grave of the Fireflies), which never fails to set just the perfect mood to go along with the action on screen. It blends into the movie so well and skyrocketed my immersion level. In a movie that centered mostly about flying, Hisaishi produced the perfect orchestral score to accompany it.

However, for some reason Laputa: Castle in the Sky has gotten overlooked by many anime fans. I'm not sure if the reason is because it's a somewhat old movie or because it's centered around what I assumed to be children (Paku and Sheeta seem to act a lot older than they look), but it's a real shame. Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a movie that should not be missed. It is something that should be seen by everyone, no matter the age. It's a film that will suit just about anyone.

Wait a second, this far into a review and I haven't criticized it at all? Hmm... let me think...

I suppose I didn't really like how the backgrounds were done in the movie. They all seemed lifeless and static. The colors were quite dull and many of the environments just weren't interesting. They really weren't what I've come to expect from Studio Ghibli at all. Even compared to Laputa's predecessor, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, it has somewhat worse background visuals. I'm really just scraping the bottom of the barrel here, though.