Reviewed on May 31st, 2006

Visually

Porco Rosso has all the hallmarks of a Miyazaki film: Charming, energetic, driven characters, a set of evildoers who are basically lazy good guys at heart, a rapturously optimistic worldview and terrific animation, particularly during the dynamic aerial dogfights. Miyazaki movies all show his fascination with things that soar through the air, from dragons to witches' brooms to skycraft, and this film particularly focuses on the mechanics of airplanes. The visuals are beautiful, and as charming as the story itself.

Audio

The voice dubbing for Porco Rosso wasn't as impressive for this Miyazaki movie. I expected more since for the movie production but it was quite the let down. Despite that the voice dubbing is bearable and alright.

Storyline

Porco Rosso announces its playful, harmless tone early on. A band of air pirates hijacks and robs a ship, taking 15 young schoolgirls hostage, and a famed bounty hunter is hired to deal with them, in a scenario that sounds like the start of a grim action movie. But the schoolgirls are clearly delighted by the outing, and they gleefully run roughshod over the friendly pirates, who take the whole unmanageable group rather than a handful of them because "it's not nice to separate them from their friends." No one is hurt or even seriously frightened as the bounty hunter Porco Rosso (Keaton) saves the day and then tries to deal with 15 happy, wiggly, independent children who utterly disregard his orders.

But this isn't exactly a lighthearted comedy either. Set around the Mediterranean circa 1930, "when seaplanes ruled the waves," Hayao Miyazaki's 1992 animated film follows the personal adventures of a wanted Italian Air Force deserter, a gruff, appetite-driven pilot who also happens to be an anthropomorphic pig. Early on, Porco's old friend Madame Gina (Egan), a well-respected restaurateur and singer, mentions the curse that changed him; she still remembers his human days. But little more is said about the event, and Porco himself shrugs dismissively when asked how he might be made human again. He makes no secret of his bitterness as he repeatedly uses the excuse "I'm a pig, not a person" to justify his chronic bad behavior and possibly to punish himself for it.

He's a lousy hero, but an excellent pilot, as the air pirates of the Adriatic know well. After their latest defeat at Porco's hands, they band into a loose, competitive federation and hire an arrogant American (Elwes) to shoot Porco down. After an inconclusive battle, Porco takes his badly damaged plane to an old Milanese friend named Piccolo (Stiers), but the repairs are turned over to Piccolo's eager 17-year-old granddaughter, Fio (Williams-Paisley). As set in his ways as Porco is, Fio's energy and faith begin to make a difference in his life.

DVD

The DVD for Porco Rosso came with some cool features that made it worth buying the DVD and thus I there is nothing to complain about the DVD.

Overall

Overall, Porco Rosso is a well equipped anime that'll keep your eyes watching it until it's finally over. The only problem Porco Rosso lacks is quality dubbing and the character voices are cartoony. And in conclusion Porco Rosso earns a 3 out of 5.

by Aidan