The reviews are out for the new movie "Mary and the Witch's Flower," which received overwhelming feedback from critics who generally praised the animated film for its charm and great story-telling.
The action-adventure film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, received a stellar 92 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a site that aggregates review scores from various entertainment outlets. Here are what some of the reviewers had to say.
Ray Greene from TheWrap expressed, "Yonebayashi's unwavering faith in the clear values and direct narrative structures of a good storybook energize his rousing entertainment with sweep and drive."
Next, Justin Chang from Los Angeles Times stated, "Magic flows freely if not infinitely in 'Mary and the Witch's Flower,' an effortless animated charmer from the gifted Japanese director and Studio Ghibli veteran Hiromasa Yonebayashi."
Finally, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Director Yonebayashi clearly fetishizes the romantic countryside setting of such European stories for Mary's time with her family, the school itself is quite unlike anything we've seen, making it easy to understand why Mary might think she's dreaming."
The story is about a young girl named Mary (Hana Sugisaki) who lives a quiet and uneventful life in the countryside with her Great-Aunt Charlotte (Shinobu Otake). One day, she follows a mysterious cat into the forest nearby and stumbles upon a strange broomstick and a peculiar plant which blossoms once every seven years.
It turns out that the broomstick and flower are magical, and they suddenly whisk Mary away high above the clouds. They end up at a school of magic called Endor College, which is run by the headmistress Madam Mumblechook (Yuki Amami). Adventure ensues as Mary explores the school and the magical land.
"Mary and the Witch's Flower" is set to premiere on Friday, Jan 19, in theaters nationwide.
