The set pieces make this well worth watching while director Goro Miyazaki shows he's truly his father's son.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein
It also features deaths by strangulation and immolation as well as a nasty bit with a flying severed limb.Kids may be less put off by all that, though, than by the film's uninspired hand-drawn animation, visual flatness and elongated running time.
The sights and sounds are splendid--a lovingly hand-detailed portside city, a touching musical interlude in a windswept field--though they're largely disconnected from the narrative proper.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
An artistically arresting yet narratively lame and strangely unfocused cartoon aimed at older children and young adults.
The Miyazaki legacy is in good hands.
This dull and humorless production won't reap the same critical support as the work of Miyazaki Senior.
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Earthsea seems to be a stupendously dull place. It would try the patience of any kid.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
He does an okay imitation of his father's languidly matter-of-fact dreamscapes, but it's hard to deny that a certain vitality is missing in Tales From Earthsea.
San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Hartlaub
This film is too scary for very young children, while older fans are likely to focus on the film not faring well in comparison to the elder Miyazaki's recent work.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Feels a little like a science-fiction Sunday school pageant.