Spirited Away

Spirited Away (2001) – Even though the integrated 3D animation hasn’t aged all that well, this is still a gorgeous film—here, Miyazaki creates a complex, extremely imaginative world, and he does an excellent job of making his protagonist feel true-to-life (although the characterizations of the rest of the cast are on the weak side), but while the film is strong on themes and symbolism, it’s short on overarching narrative and, perhaps, reasons to be. 7