Tales from Earthsea (PG)

Based on the Earthsea series by Ursula Le Guin, this Japanese animated feature mixes fairy-tale adventure with an elemental struggle between good and evil. It begins all at sea, and, figuratively speaking, pretty much stays there. Set in a quasi-medieval terrain where dragons wing across the horizon, it concerns the wanderings of a young prince, Arren, who's fleeing the murder of his father, and the wizard Sparrowhawk, who's tracking his malign rival Cob.

Stylistically it's a mishmash of Celtic mysticism, Mediterranean architecture and cartoon villainy. For this English-language version, Timothy Dalton and Willem Dafoe provide the voices of the Magi, both considerably more involving than the prince hero. The philosophical debates on the nature of life and death are surprisingly persuasive, though the film overextends its finale by at least half an hour.