This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

3.5 out of 5 This is the most Takahata-ish Takahata movie. It has all his major quirks: a bizarre sense of humor, traditional Japanese mythology, environmentalism, a focus on story over character, an inability to juggle a lot of characters at once, random but fun singing that strangely does not disrupt the tone of the film, and a Japanese paternal preachiness that his films barely manage to not collapse under.A lot of the characteristics I mentioned are negative, I don't dislike this movie. If I were given the choice between it and a random Hollywood blockbuster, I would pick it every time, despite its many faults. But I'm disappointed. Most filmmakers tend to get better as they get older, or at least grow in interesting ways.  Takahata did neither. As he grew in years, he exchanged complexity and intelligence for clumsy simplicity, and though the stylism he was once famed for did not go away, it was not nearly enough to cover up his declining artistic craft. He became simply a shadow of his former self, and though he was a rich and powerful man responsible for some of his country's enduring masterpieces, you couldn't help but feel pity for someone who had fallen so far, particularly because every now and then, there were traces of his old genius that exposed themselves for just long enough to give you hope.Yes, I'm saying he's basically the Japanese Francis Ford Coppola.The best thing about this film is the aesthetic. Every Takahata film has a great aesthetic, but this film takes it to the next level. It's better-looking than most Miyazaki films, and it has a greater deal creative designs too. A lot of hard work was put into making this film look as good as possible, from beginning to end. I'm not so adverse to Takahata's storytelling as to say you should watch this film on mute, but if you are planning to watch a film on mute, this would not be an a poor choice.I should probably explain the plot of the film: in the 60's, during widespread urban development, a group of raccoons fight to stop their home for being destroyed. Yes, it does not make its environmental message subtly. At least Nausicaa had a strawman. This film doesn't. In fact, on a whole, it is rather disconnected from reality.But that's not my main problem with the film. To explain, let me talk about my favorite scene. It's a romance scene between the 'protagonist' raccoon (I put it in quotes because this film doesn't really have a protagonist), and his love. It's a stunning scene, it's legitimately interesting, and the dialogue is rather well-written. It's the kind of scene you want to last forever.And then they go and terrorize some innocent workers. Yeah, just like that. While I don't think we're supposed to think of the raccoons as universally good, we're supposed to sympathize with them and think their tricks are funny. I don't. The way they're presented, I was cheering for the humans. But even if their tricks were funny, that kind of tonal inconsistency takes the viewer right out of the moment, and it litters this whole movie.Combined with unnecessary bizarre happenings that were not needed and break the pace of the film, and you have a ness of a movie. Takahata being serious is good. Think Grave of the Fireflies, his only truly great movie. Takahata trying to be funny is Takahata wasting the viewer's time. There are even parts of the film that are legitimately funny, but because they weren't weaved in with any artistic prowess, the audience doesn't care.It is not a coincidence that the last five minutes of the film, which are the darkest, are also the best. I was sent dreaming of a better film, one that capitalized on the potential of those last five minutes, and of the very beginning, and of the good character interactions and depictions of this interesting raccoon culture. But as it was, I'm stuck with that film. I'm all right with that. It's just that I hoped for better.By: Joshua A. Fagan

I Have Seen All Of Studio Ghibli's Movie's.... Honestly This Movie Is NOT At The Top And NOT At The Bottom.... If I Had The Place The Movie Here Is Where I Would Place It- 1. Grave Of The Fireflies 2. Ponyo(On The Cliff By The Sea) 3. Spirited Away 4. My Neighbor Totoro 5. Princess Mononoke 6. Howls Moving Castle 7. Kiki' Delivery Service 8. Laputa: Castle In The Sky 9. Whisper Of The Heart 10. Porco Rosso 11. Pom Poko~~~~~~~~~~~ 12. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 13. My Neighbors The Yamadas 14. The Cat Returns 15. Only Yesterday 16. Tales From EarthseaPom Poko Is NOT A Bad Movie, Its Just Not One Of My Favorites Although The Animation Is So Beautiful!Overall It Is Still A VERY Good Movie!

Seriously. It took me ages to get my hands on this one. (forgot that it existed for some years ^^) Now that I've finally seen it(and seen it again one day later) I have to say, that this is the best Ghibli movie yet. (Yes, this was the last one missing for me, and yes, I'm absolutely serious.)The story touches on similar issues as Mononoke or (to a lesser degree) Nausicaa. Man versus Nature, although Nature versus Man would be more appropriate. The scope of the story could almost be called epic, spanning three years, never focusing on any given character for too long, but rather dealing out similar screen time to a whole bunch of them. Two things I really didn't expect from a movie definitely aimed at children. The movie, clocking in at two hours, never loses its momentum but it does lack a bit of coherence. I can't quite describe it, but it feels more like watching four episodes in a row, rather then one movie. But thats nothing to fuss about really. Those two hours are packed with hilarious raccoon moments (whatever that is). Watching the raccoons transform, partying and being generally undecided about everything is just fun. It could have gone on for another two hours for all I cared. Its hilarious to watch. But then all of a sudden there are those moments hitting you straight in the stomach and bringing you back to earth. It never feels like this movie tries to wiggle the moral finger, it doesn't have to and it still gets its message across but in such an unpretentious way that you have to sit back afterwards and really appreciate the artistry behind it.Technically, the animation is OK, although it really shines in transformation scenes (which make up about 80% of the movie ^^) It's like they forced their animators to double the framerate for those, and it really shows. Simply seamless. Seriously, it puts almost everything else to shame I've seen in Mainstream Animation so far. At some point you don't even realize it anymore, you take it as a given that a raccoon can transform into whatever the hell he feels like because it just happens naturally.To get to the point. This movie is for kids (although all the male raccoons show of their balls ^^), but its just so funny in an over the top kind of way, that you have to be a soulless automaton to resist its charm no matter your age. I don't do this often, but in this case I have to...10/10

I enjoyed Pom Poko very much, and I think Disney will find a way to make money on it as soon as they can convince the American audience that Raccoons are marsupials.During the monster parade, they show the standard scene of a drunk who is amazing by amazing stuff. Where did this begin? Was it Japan, America or somewhere else? I think an early Gamara movie has a similar scene.In American toons, the drunk who sees amazing stuff usually produces a pint bottle and drops it on the ground.Just like fruit carts will always be pushed over in the chase scene of every movie, every movie with amazing things will have a drunk to see it.