There was a princess. There was a pilot. They lived happily ever after. The end. Ok, that's not exactly what "The Princess and the Pilot" is about. Instead, it gives us a adventure that feels like a truly modern fairy tale, but it is easily overlooked, even though this feature film really deserves at least a little attention. The Pilot, Charles, is a boy born in a lower class, a class that is picked on and bullied by every other class in the world. Despite that, Charles works hard and earns his way as a pilot in the military, where he can fly (to feel truly "free"). One day, he is given a top-secret mission: to fly the princess to her husband to be, whose location happens to be in the middle of a war zone. And so they take off, but both the princess and the pilot learn a lot more about themselves then they thought they might.A romance as well as an adventure, this movie has two problems: it's predictable, and it's full of plot holes. Predictability isn't always a bad thing, especially here. The characters are likeable, and you want to keep watching them talk and fight, even though you already know most of what they will do. The plot holes are a little more serious. The movie hints at a political conspiracy which is never unearthed, and thus there is no real explanation to the dangers that occurred during the mission. The ending is fraught with problems... I know the princess and the pilot can't just run off and live happily ever after while the rest of the world is at war, but the ending did leave me wanting. What's worse, it ends with text explaining the events after the movie, which is so ambiguous it just felt lazy, as if to say "make up your own ending where they end up together." Shame, since the ending was otherwise beautiful, it really was! What does make this movie stand out is the idea of class and status, and how people are unfairly put in them and how they are treated thorughout lifebecause of this fate. If nothing else, the movie deserves to be seen for those themes.
The art is beautiful, but simple. The music is beautiful, but simple. The dub doesn't exist, sadly, but the Japanese dub is beautiful, but simple.I guess the entire movie is beautiful, but simple. It did leave me wanting something better, but it was also refreshing in its approach. And with so little press around it, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised should you watch it.