EARWIG AND THE WITCH

Well, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but I can't say it's good either.

One of my favourite thing about Ghibli films is that most of them really are the definition of family films - they can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. Earwig and the Witch is very clearly for kids and that's not necessarily a bad thing but as an adult, I was pretty bored. The plot is basically missing. It's based on an unfinished novel and it feels like it. There are so many loose threads and it sets up plot lines that go nowhere. Earwig felt like the first episode for a slice of life TV series about a girl who goes to live with a witch. - not a coherent, competent movie with set-up, conflict and resolution.

CGI-wise, it's not as terrible as some people make out. The backgrounds look fantastic and personally, I reckon they did an amazing job with making it look like England. There were a lot of little authentic British touches I noticed. The problem with the CGI is the characters, they fall foul of the uncanny valley a little and I thought there was something off about their expressions and movements. It's not the worst CGI I've seen but it was pretty distracting. I can appreciate that this was Ghibli trying to change things up animation-wise, but no.

There were some scenes I enjoyed and I liked that Earwig took adversity in her stride - if I was a kid, I'd probably love it (maybe) - but I wouldn't watch it again and can't score it highly.