jaleel73 - 2016-11-27 15:06:11

Porco Rosso is built on the backs of its lively, vibrant characters with animation and a soundtrack to match.  There may not be another movie in existence to match the blended tone this movie encapsulates, so full of life and comedy with shadows of darker things.

The characters are crack cocaine: their expressions, characteristics, mannerisms, and motivations will give you fits of laughter along with a deep respect.  Marco is macho, a lone wolf, so to speak, who lives to fly.  He's one very cool pig, drinking and smoking like there is no tomorrow.  Curtis, on the other hand, is a confident, ambitious ace, prone to falling in love at first sight.  Then, there's the uppity, innocent Fio, an exceptional but young mechanic, and there is the honorable and not very bright boss of the Mamma Aiutos.  With a cast that is nuanced and zany, their interactions drive the film, making pig puns, bantering, and arguing to the audience's delight.  Though a comedy, the characters have deeper interactions than just these.  Marco describes his past, and Gina her true feelings.  There is talk of fascists, war, and economic depressions, ergo the mix of light and dark.  

The growth of the characters is practically negligible.  Marco's viewpoints and outlook seem to soften by the end of the film, otherwise the characters remain static.  Fio, Curtis, and Gina are all the same from when we meet them to the end of the film.  The loud personalities of the characters seem to make up for this, along with the fact Porco Rosso is a comedy.

The story is simple.  After Porco is shot down, he must repair his plane and get back at Curtis.  It's functional because there are so many small adventures at each point where we see new characters introduced and developments made.  There's a good, believable love story tied in too.  Don't expect any surprising twists or complexities, instead Miyazaki wonderfully develops the audience's perception and understanding of the characters as the film progresses.

Plenty of action sequences are interspersed to drive the movie.  They rely heavily on the plane and flight animation, which is ridiculously awesome, despite a couple of ugly CGI moments.  By the way, this movie probably has my favorite fight scene of all time at the very end.  Fight scenes just don't get better than that one.

The animation is phenomenal, supporting the Ghibli name.  The flight scenes are realistic and beautiful to watch, as was mentioned previously.  The details of backgrounds and each individual character border perfection.  Each character introduced looks vividly unique and is easily identifiable.  Character design doesn't get better than this, just look at Marco.  If I could have one plush toy from a Ghibli movie, it would hands down be Marco.  Forget Totoro, Marco would look infinitely cooler on my bed.  On a side note, you'll notice Totoro and Marco have similar teeth whenever Porco guffaws.  The animation is epic and matches the humor and somber undertones.

The soundtrack is varied and unified.  Throughout, there are musical themes that are new and exciting, creating moods of melancholy, but usually ones of an upbeat, hoppy nature that make you bounce in your seat.  The theme for the Mamma Aiutos is like carnival music, just delightful.

What is Porco Rosso really about?  Primarily, the movie aims to entertain the audience, although there is a theme about people finding joy despite their circumstances.  Marco is cursed as a pig, made fun of and separated from the rest of humanity.  He's pretty sad and lonely, maybe even a bit depressed, but finds meaning for his life in the sky, and by the end of the movie he just might have found additional happiness somewhere else.  For more evidence of this theme, take notice of all the women working at Piccolo's, making ends meet despite the economic depression.  Fio is young and a woman, but fights against the status quo and expectations to do what she loves, designing planes.  Curtis's love is unrequited and that doesn't stop him either, though it probably should.  In the midst of all of this, is a throng that gathers to watch the battle between Marco and Curtis, having an exciting carnival, basically, for the event.  Ultimately, like the final battle, Porco Rosso is determined to entertain its audience, but it doesn't lack for more underneath the covers.  In fact, it is just serious enough to contain a bit of impact without harming its whimsical nature.

Porco Rosso is a mischievous tale, full of life and people and laughter despite Marco's curse and loneliness, the fascists, and the economic depressions.  These characters do the best with what they have and they sure have a grand time in the process.  Porco Rosso is a must see for the unique tone it offers and also the sheer volume of puns stuffed into the script.

murl35 - 2015-08-14 14:00:56

Porco rosso is like the godfather of anime but with humor. This is one of Miazaki's most realistic films most of Miazaki's films are fantasy but this is set in 1920s Italy. Porco rosso does have great plane fights. But it's also a masterpiece and one of the Miazaki's more mature films. This movie is purely meant for adults.

maufderhar - 2013-11-20 20:01:34

It's not like I was expecting something enormous, but I wanted at least a standard high quality from studio Ghibli. And this was rather disappointing.

The plot is non-existent. They set off some strong points and interesting leads, but it never picks up. It tries to go many directions before giving up and ending its misery. The story is the ultimate weak point of Porco Rosso. They try to cover it with some feminism but unfortunately they try to force it too hard. Characters fared a little bit better - although the main heroine was a typical Ghibli spirited young lady, our main man was a genuinely interesting character. I would have liked a conclusion to his story, but with the indecisive plot he gained some mystery and charm. What fared even better was animation - it was fluent and decorated with beautiful, detailed backgrounds, a joy to watch.

In the end, I somewhat enjoyed Porco Rosso, although I felt the story and meaning could've been better executed.

Please note that the English dub isn't top quality with this one and please don't disregard my warning as 'just another dub-hater'.