Porco Rosso (1992)

Porco Rosso (1992)

4/10

Starring the voices of

Shūichirō Moriyama

Tokiko Kato

Akemi Okamura

Akio Ōtsuka

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Contains Spoilers

Porco Rosso didn’t quite live up to my expectations, especially compared to other Studio Ghibli films or what I’ve come to expect from Hayao Miyazaki. For me, the plot took a while to get going, and I spent half the movie just meeting characters who either play a role later or are mentioned as influences in the second half.

The story dragged in places and never fully grabbed my attention. Then, just as it seemed to be gaining momentum, the movie ended abruptly. To sum it up, I don’t understand why such a seemingly short story has such a stretched-out screenplay.

The animation itself didn’t leave much of an impression on me, and the mystery of why Porco is a pig felt like it wasn’t worth the effort to explain—or even hint at meaningfully.

The plot introduces us to Porco Rosso, a bounty hunter and former World War I hero who was cursed and turned into an anthropomorphic pig. The story begins with a humorous hijacking and kidnapping on a ship by air pirates. These pirates not only steal the ship’s valuables but also take its passengers—children included—as hostages to aid their escape.

This is where Porco comes in to save the day. We watch him take off in his red aircraft (not without some difficulty), and the comedy is enjoyable at first. However, after this, the movie meanders through long, slow conversations. Porco encounters other characters, fixes his plane, runs from the bounty on his head, and eventually ends up in a pointless brawl elsewhere.

There are hints of romance sprinkled throughout. One of the women clearly has a history with Porco from before he became the pig-man he is now, and her feelings for him are understandable. But then there’s another romantic gesture from a young woman he just met—the granddaughter of his mechanic—which felt strange and out of place.

I doubt I’ll watch this film again, and I wish I had spent the time exploring another of Miyazaki’s works instead.

That said, Porco Rosso was both a commercial and critical success, much to my surprise. There’s even an English Disney dub featuring Michael Keaton as the voice of Porco. For me, the world building didn’t sit right with me and made me spend so much time trying to overcome the idea of a pig in a human world. It is a forgettable film, so that I can be grateful for.