The Wind Rises

Japanese legend Hayao Miyazaki has never excelled at airtight and propulsive story structure. A modern master of supple, hand-drawn animation, his films are at their best when they weave occasions for dreamy flights of fancy into the fabric of the story. That's why it's disappointing that The Wind Rises, his most “conventional” and purportedly last ever directorial effort, boasts his flabbiest narrative yet. It is a biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, a brilliant engineer instrumental in developing World War II Japanese fighter planes. He's presented here as sensitive and noble, a dreamer who pursues his passion for planes, despite their destiny of mass destruction. The gorgeous and powerful first half sets up a highly personal story about the balance between artistic obsession and integrity, but the second half gets bogged down in a tragic love story that never connects.