Tales from Earthsea (2006, Movie) - 5/10

Tales from Earthsea (2006) Earthsea is in danger of losing its balance of light and dark. A young prince, Arren, attempts to flee his own dark side after stabbing his father. He runs into a wizard named Sparrowhawk who looks after him but the key to Arren’s reconciliation with his dark side lies within. 5/10 It must be terribly difficult to be the son of a genius and following in his footsteps. Goro Miyazaki has delivered a fairly solid movie, generally paced and animated well but I could not follow the concepts he was presenting and, critically, there’s no magic at all. That feeling of enthusiastic wonder that one gets from Hayao Miyazaki’s work is simply not present and Goro Miyazaki, on the evidence of Tales from Earthsea, shows that you cannot inherit genius. Sad to see that the Japanese cast are not credited on the English release. This movie contains gory fantasy violence, strong violence against children, one scene of unexpectedly graphic sword violence, scary and unpleasant scenes. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance. Available on DVD.