- Porco Rosso (Michael Keaton) is one of the best pilots in the world, performing dazzling feats of aeronautics even as he struggles to keep his plane's engine running. He is also a bounty hunter, quick to disrupt the schemes of dastardly pirates everywhere. He is honorable, freeing kidnapped hostages, always shooting to disable, and even rescuing his downed opponents. He is allegedly a womanizer, although he lives alone on a desert island and tends to shun the women in his life. He is also a pig, but he'd tell you that just makes him like "all middle-aged men."
- So why did a pilot once named Marco transform into a pig? Well, we can safely say that it had something to do with his near-death experience in the Italian air force during the first world war, but it's best not to focus on the details. All we really need to know is that he's a pensive, chain-smoking, porcine aviator who sits quietly in bars as female patrons approach for his autograph. He's like a character from an Ernest Hemingway story, but (even more of) a pig. To the extent that the film has a story, it follows Porco's trip to Milan to have his plane repaired by an old mechanic named Piccolo (David Ogden Stiers) and his eager young granddaughter, Fio (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). He's getting his plane fixed because he was shot down by the brash American, Curtis (Cary Elwes), who wants to steal both Porco's fame and the alluring Madame Gina (Susan Egan). After an aborted dogfight, the two pilots sensibly settle their score in a bizarre boxing match refereed by the gruff-but-chivalrous pirate leader (Brad Garrett).
- The eponymous Porco Rosso is one of the more delightfully original characters ever to star in a film, animated or otherwise. If you don't find the idea of a taciturn, mustachioed pig pilot intriguing, I simply don't know what to tell you. That said, the movie surrounding him is a mixed bag. Hayao Miyazaki's animation is always a pleasure to watch, and that is as true for this film as any. Sunlight glints off intricately designed planes as they streak through the sky above realistic Mediterranean landscapes. Beyond the clouds, a beautifully haunting armada makes its final flight. When these spectacular characters and visuals are allowed to tell their story, the film succeeds. Unfortunately, Porco Rosso's final synopsis almost manages to derail the rest of the narrative. It is one thing to leave loose ends untied, but it is entirely another to sloppily point them out at the end of an otherwise enjoyable film.
- The film came out in 1992, but as usual I watched the Disney re-release from 2003.
