Porco Rosso Review: Soaringly Spectacular!

Porco Rosso, as goofy as it is, is more mature than people give it credit for. This movie is so fleshed out, expertly crafted and vibrant. First off, the animation: everything is moving and colorful. From the mechanics of the planes to the beautiful backgrounds, it’s all just beautiful. Each gear in each plane is accounted for and so detailed. You can tell how much work went into every plane. The city blocks feel lived in, and the backgrounds are absolutely stunning. The beach that Porco hangs out at is beautiful. The colors are all great. My friend Nick also pointed out how every frame is drawn and painted. While other Ghibli movies are more world building focused this one is more character and plot focused. The scale is small enough to process every microcosm of the environments and characters. While I love Spirited Away and its world, I love this approach too. Ghibli is honestly the king of animation. I could really break down every shot and why I love it. Just every shot is stunning and the painted backgrounds are fantastic.

Next I want to talk about the writing: the themes of honor, feminism, and gender equality are definitely relevant now. And for the time it’s even more surprising a movie with that type of message was made. I also love movies that talk about youth‘s role in society. Porco’s dialogue is also witty, pretty funny also. Fio’s confident and bold attitude is definitely charming when personalities like that can often by so up-front it’s annoying. The dogfight and boxing scene is honestly perfect. The score is amazing. The Italian vibe works really well.

I watched the English version and MOST of the voice acting was really good. Porco and Fio are fantastic but Curtis’ voice is extremely annoying. Definitely top 3 Ghibli, I recommend this movie to anyone who likes animation. Truly fantastic.