LU OVER THE WALL- English Dub – A Review by Cynthia Flores
This new English-dubbed film from Japan is a sweet hallucinogenic treat. It’s a family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale about mermaids. In this film a little mermaid, Lu (Christine Marie Cabanos) comes ashore to join a middle-school rock band and tries to make friends with the humans.
The story centers around Lu and a good-looking teenager named Kai (Michael Sinterniklaas) who is talented in music but adrift in his self pity. He sulks around town because he’s upset about having to leave the big city of Tokyo after his parents divorced. He and his dad moved back to the small fishing village his father grew up in where only his grandfather remains. Kai spends his time uploading songs he’s written to the internet. When Kunio (Brandon Engman) and Yuho (Stephanie Sheh), his schoolmates, invite him to play in their band, he only accepts because they rehearse on Mermaid Island, a deserted amusement park that Yuho’s family owns. Kai hopes he will again see the mermaid who likes his music who he first encountered the night before. Lu’s fins turn into legs and feet when she hears music and her singing causes humans to compulsively dance – weather they want to or not. Some of my favorite scenes are the ones where everyone is having fun dancing.
As Kai spends more time with Lu walking the streets at night with her because daylight will make her catch fire, he finds that he’s able to share with her what he’s really thinking. A real bond begins to form between them. However, since ancient times, the people of the village have believed that mermaids bring disaster and soon there is trouble between Lu and the townspeople putting everyone in grave danger.
Lu Over the Wall is a delight to watch as visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa displays his genre-mixing mastery of the art form. It has several very moving emotional sub plots that tug at the heartstrings.
I think the film would be better in its original language with English subtitles because a little something gets lost in the translation here and there were a few times that I got lost with the story line. For that reason only I give this film an A- Rating. I hope you will go and see this film on the big screen, I know you will walk away humming at least one of the songs.
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa
Written By Reiko Yoshida, Masaaki Yuasa, Stephanie Sheh, Amanda Celine Miller
Rated PG
Selig Rating A-
Running Time 1 hr 52 min
Animation / Adventure / Comedy
Limited Release May 11th The Angelika Film Center Dallas & AMC Grapevine Mills 30 & several Alamo Drafthouses
Starring the English Voices of: Christine Marie Cabanos, Michael Sinterniklaas, Stephanie Sheh, Brandon Engman, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld
The Selig Rating Scale:
A – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
B – Good movie
C – OK movie
D – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
F – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
