The Cat Returns (2002)
Toho | Release Date: April 22, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireGreg EhrbarDec 3, 2019
The Cat Returns is an excellent companion to Spirited Away, as they are both Alice-in-Wonderland-like excursions into bizarre worlds with their own rules and logic. Both have female leads who, unlike dear Alice, experience definite arcs of character and capability. The Cat Returns is a lighter film overall, delivering belly laughs. Read full review
88
Chicago ReaderBen SachsDec 3, 2019
It's a masterful succession of images, tickling the viewer's curiosity with the characters' curiosity. The fantasy emerges little by little—through hesitant, feline steps, if you will—until the floodgates open. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineRobert PardiDec 3, 2019
Director Morita does an exemplary job of bringing a Japanese graphic novel to the screen. Read full review
80
The New York TimesMike HaleDec 3, 2019
As it is, it’s the best non-Miyazaki, non-Takahata Ghibli feature. A girl prevents a cat from getting crushed by a truck and gains favor with a nocturnal kingdom of hipster felines, in a story with echoes of Alice in Wonderland and the novels of Haruki Murakami. Read full review
80
IGNSergio NonDec 3, 2019
This movie exhibits a craft that belies Morita's inexperience as a director. He hasn't made a poetic film in the manner of his Ghibli mentors, but it's actually more polished in some ways than much of their work, especially in terms of movement. Read full review
80
VarietyLisa NesselsonDec 3, 2019
Animated by Hiroyuki Morita -- a protege of Hayao Miyazaki -- story draws more from fairy tales than the eerie transformative productions by Studio Ghibli. Result is catchy entertainment for kids and adults. Read full review
80
CineVueBen NicholsonDec 3, 2019
As with much of Miyazaki’s own output, the film offers a winning heroine and a joyful dip into Japanese folklore, even if it does not stand up against the studios most celebrated works. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonDec 3, 2019
The results are disappointingly conventional for a Ghibli film—the film is good-hearted, energetic, and full of Ghibli's characteristically beautiful hand-rendered animation, but it's also lightweight and hyper, with none of Miyazaki's more resonant themes. Read full review
70
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)Dec 3, 2019
Another enjoyable fantasy adventure from Studio Ghibli, the animation house that gave us the delightful Spirited Away. This is not in the same class, but lovers of Miyazaki’s masterpiece will recognise the same worldview – essentially that of Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories refracted through a modern Japanese sensibility. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 3, 2019
The story has a moderate charm, but is less baroque and ambitious than many Japanese animations. Read full review
40
EmpireAnna SmithDec 3, 2019
There's little tension or opportunity for emotional involvement in the brief story, and despite competent animation the cats are rarely anthropomorphised to good comic effect. One for anime - and animal - lovers only. Read full review
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