The Boy and the Heron (2023) review

Following the tragic death of his birth mother, young Mahito moves with his father Shoichi away from Tokyo, meets his new step-mother Natsuko (who's with child), and then receives frequent visits from a suspicious-looking gray heron (which is actually a troll in disguise) ... then descends into an "underworld" (of sorts) where he befriends Kiriko and meets his great grand-uncle.  The animation is smooth and vibrant - which is expected by now from Studio Ghibli - and the side characters are fun to look at (from the nosy grannies to the knife-wielding parakeets to the marshmallow-like Warawara) but this just seems like Miyazaki taking the "safe route" and recycling himself, and it's overloaded with easy sentimentality.  It pains me to say it, but this is something of an "old man's movie" (once you look past the kids): the Japanese auteur is currently in his early 80's and the concluding message is about how we should try to make the world a better place, as challenging as that may be.  But who knows, maybe he has three or more of these left in him....