That's where my comparison to Beetlejuice comes from the wild-looking but basically uninteresting ghosts and normal-yet-bizarre settings (a walking staircase or a restaurant that serves human body parts, for example) remind me of that cartoon. On the down side, the story is fittingly simple for a kids' movie there's never much depth to the action, and much of the stuff in the ghost world that could have been scary or at least wild and whimsical ends up being weird for no good reason. Some of the mechanics of the spirit world-the reincarnation train in particular-are imaginative, too. The exorcists are also good although their personalities are a bit over-the-top, their less-obvious-than-they-seem motives are more interesting than I initially expected.Īnother strength is the film's constant-motion style, which is consistently exciting without getting frantic or tiring. On the positive side of the production, I really like the two main characters and their relationship-somewhat antagonistic but still cute and sweetly romantic. There are also several short musical numbers and a cute dog (who, thankfully, doesn't talk). 1 The characters are broad, the villains obvious (with one significant exception), and the plot relatively simple and cheerful-this ghost story isn't a scary one. That said, it seems more like a cross between a Disney feature and the Beetlejuice cartoon, with a semi-anime style and a heap of computer animation.Ī Chinese Ghost Story feels like a kids' movie, and not in the grand all-ages sense of Miyazaki productions. It is, not surprisingly, a largely Chinese production, though the visual style is basically anime and the plot enough so that it probably qualifies as such. Younger viewers might enjoy A Chinese Ghost Story, but although it has some nice characters, attractive art, and some interesting use of computer animation, the plot is weak and it has enough of the marks of a made-for-the-kids movie that it probably won't appeal to most older viewers, especially those expecting something more along the lines of Miyazaki's "kids" films Spirited Away, it isn't.Ī Chinese Ghost Story is something like a children's animated version of the live action Hong Kong films of the same name. On the down side, the rather jumpy story is fittingly broad and simple for a children's movie, the ghosts are largely uncreative, there are a few half-hearted musical numbers tossed in, and the computer generated backgrounds (the characters are hand-drawn cels) have some rough edges. Its strengths are the sweet pair of main characters, a constant sense of motion, and several attractive action scenes involving 3D-enhanced chases and flights. This animated adaptation of the popular series of live action movies is something like a cross between a Disney feature and the Beetlejuice cartoon.
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