The animation is gorgeous enough to distract you from a plot that doesn't hold together. Studio Ghibli's fingerprints are all over the art, the soundtrack pulls directly from the games, and for the first half you're genuinely invested in three kids caught between worlds. Then the story collapses under its own logic, the villain becomes obvious, and you realize the film cares more about looking beautiful than making sense. Game fans especially feel it, the betrayal of watching something that should have been a love letter turn into a pretty hollow experience.

Yuu's ordinary high school life with his best friend Haru and childhood friend Kotona is upended when a strange incident sends them back and forth between reality and Ni no Kuni, a magical, fairy-tale-like kingdom full of unusual peoples and creatures. In that realm, Yuu, who has used a wheelchair since childhood, finds he can walk. When Kotona's life is put in danger, the friends are forced toward an ultimate choice. Adapted from Level-5's video game franchise, the film blends action, adventure, fantasy and romance, and it centers on the bond between two parallel worlds and the people who move between them.