The animation is great, know that. It was made by Don Bluth after he left Disney, and the animation is phenomenal. A lot of the characters are good too, with Mrs. Brisby probably being one of the best female characters in an animated movie, being brave while also scared at the same time, doing all she is for her children. (Unfortunately, She doesn't have a name of her own, only Mrs. Jonathan Brisby. I'll cover that later.)
Going into the film, I expected it to be astounding, and I expected to love it... But there are flaws that I cannot overlook...
As a reminder: The blog's title, Fixer Sue, means I fix perceived problems, and if you disagree with me I'm just a Sue.
The Pacing
The pace of the movie is abysmal. The first thirty-forty minutes of the movie could be condensed down to 10. Here are the events that occurred:
- Mrs. Brisby gets some medicine for her son Timmy who has pneumonia.
- Mrs. Brisby frees Jeremy the crow from some string, and is chased by a cat.
- Mrs. Brisby gives Timmy the medicine.
- Mrs. Brisby's family needs to evacuate, because the plow has come early this year.
- Ms. Shrew and Brisby break the tractor, buying them some time.
- Mrs. Brisby goes to see the great owl, who informs her to seek the rats of NiHM. (This could be skipped...)
- Mrs. Brisby then goes to the rats of NiHM.
7 events (could be six) that take up half of the movie's running time. The pace is slow and boring... You spend that time waiting for something to happen. Some action occurs, but it is over very quickly and left an empty feeling.
The second 40 minutes isn't much better either. It could be shortened to maybe 20 minutes, since only these events occur:
- Introduced to Jenner, who wants to stay in the rose bush. The rats are arguing over moving to Thorn Valley. At the same time, the rats agree to move Brisby's house (later section).
- Mrs. Brisby meets Nicodemus, who gives the backstory of the rats of NiHM, and gives Brisby a Deus Ex Machina.
- Brisby drugs the cat, is captured, and thus overhears that NiHM is coming to kill the rats.
- Nicodemus is killed by Jenner, and the moving of Brisby's house fails.
- Jenner is killed by Justin (captain of the guard) and Jenner's accomplice (no name given/remembered).
- Brisby's home sinks, but because the stone takes pity on Brisby's sorrow, the stone makes Brisby a jedi and she moves her house through "Da Magiks."
This movie has very few important events. It could be shortened to 30 minutes, the running time of a TV show without commercials.
Now, don't assume me as some impatient child who wants to see robots and explosions. I can take long scenes, especially when they focus on a character I like, like Mrs. Brisby. But what I can't take are really long scenes featuring unnecessary comedy from Jeremy the crow. Watching Jeremy is like watching Jarjar Binks from Star Wars episode 1; his scenes are far too long, and can be cut down a lot without losing anything. Same thing with the scenes featuring the children and Ms. Shrew. Cut them, and you lose almost nothing.
If you want a full movie run time, do it another way. Give more depth to the rats, as the item spent with them is the best part of the movie. Explore their politics more, or show their escape in full, instead of just the important points. Anything is better than padding with Jeremy Binks.
Mrs. Jonathan Brisby
If Mrs. Brisby wasn't the widow of Jonathan Brisby, she wouldn't have gotten help. If she was just a normal, no-name mouse, they would have ignored her plea.
In the epilogue of the sequel, Mrs. Brisby is mentioned as Jonathan's Widow, and not much else. A fact fans of the original detest. But, the problem is, Brisby would've failed if it wasn't for her name. Thus everything she does, even of her own will, is actually thanks to her dead husband.
She needs her own identity, and people need to help her because they like her, not because of who she married. Give her a first name, (can be Maria Brisby, or Jenny Brisby since the story loves the letter J so much) and make it so that people grow to like her before they learn she is Mrs. Brisby.
Brisby is already a good character, she just needs to be more of her own, without the shadow of her dead husband looming over her.
The Anchor
The entire plot of the movie relies on one thing... Timmy, Mrs. Brisby's son, is sick. So he needs to stay in bed and not go outside else he'll die...
So instead of finding a way to move Timmy without killing him, they opt to move the house.
...
They are afraid that the chill in the air will kill him. But, they could just wrap him up tightly and transport him away gently. They could build a caravan wagon and pull him away while he is able to sleep. Timmy acts as a very poor anchor to their cinder block house.
Worse, they opt to move the house by lifting it up into the air, causing everything to shake... That can't be good for a sick child.
Here's a better idea: The medicine that Mr. Ages (another mouse, met at the beginning) doesn't work, and Timmy is starting to take a turn for the worse. So Mrs. Brisby goes to the rats for a cure. They agree, and in exchange she helps them with their move to thorn valley, and decides to move with them once Timmy is better.
Thing is, that is the plot I thought the movie had when I was going into it... Imagine my surprise when I found out that that the plot was that they needed to move their house.
The Secret of NiHM is a decent movie... It has fantastic animation, one of the best female leads in animation... But the story, the pacing, and the plot devices bog it down, and make it unfun to watch...
Now, while I doubt many people read these blogs, I want to remind anyone who read this in the future... This is the opinion of a Fixer Sue. My opinion does not mean you're wrong if you disagree with me.
This has been Fixer Sue.
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