Reportedly, Hayao Miyazaki tried to block his son’s attempts to make an animated movie. In a classic case of 'father knows best', Miyazaki Jr. should have listened to Pops, because Tales from Earthsea is Studio Ghibli’s first real clunker, a leaden, humourless trek through valleys of portentous dialogue and ravines of assumed knowledge.

Bizarrely based on the third and fourth book in Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle, those not familiar with the story are going to emerge with badly scratched heads despite a constant flow of exposition-heavy dialogue.

All unwarranted criticisms levelled against Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films find fertile ground here. A laborious opening act consists of little more than Prince Arren (seen killing his father in the opening minutes, something not returned to) and Ged walking forever, before arriving at Tenar’s cottage where they proceed to do some farming...

A final act battle between Arren and Cob (the useless Ged proves a second-rate Gandalf or third-rate Yoda) provides needed invigoration, but the tussle on a crumbling battlement is too familiar and uninspired.

Visually dull, the character designs are intended to hark back to Japanese classic The Little Norse Prince, but inexpressive features and some clunky animation disappoint after such Ghibli classics as Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro.

The sunny countryside backdrops are handsome enough, but go against the eco-message that man has created a land of pestilence and famine.

The worst thing about Tales from Earthsea is it resembles a live action made-for-TV film that hit a budget brick wall. The marketing material-friendly dragon appears briefly at the beginning and end of the film, with little to do. Fans of the books will moan about drastic plot changes, while kids will fidget long before the final showdown.

With the charm and surprise of previous Ghibli animation absent, Goro Miyazaki has succeeded in making the studio’s Phantom Menace. Let’s hope he is not drawn to pick up the pencil again.

Rob Daniel