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Princess Mononoke Actors: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka Director: Hayao Miyazaki Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 134 minutes Studio: Miramax Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-07-20 Buy from Amazon |
 ""You shall know my hatred and my grief""Hayao Miyazaki has created a film that places among the best I have ever seen, and I am not limiting my comparison to the anime genre. The director presents the fight of good vs. evil not only through different characters, but also related to the conflict in one of the main characters (Ashitaka). The concept is similar to the one used in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in this film Ashitaka is still trying to contain the inner demon and prevent it from coming out. Right from the start we are mesmerized by the beautiful colors and animation, with crisp drawings and scenes of bliss. Miyazaki is very crafty in using this tool, together with well-chosen music to depict the mood of each scene. But happiness has an end, and in this case, the small village that was portrayed so lively, is attacked by a demon from the forest. Ashitaka is in place and tries to stop this demon before it reaches the village, being partly successful in his attempt. He gets to destroy the demon before he can kill all of his loved ones, but he also touches it in the process. This means that now he is doomed to be overtaken by the evil spirits and die an awful death. This sense of fatality is not unknown in the epic anime genre, and usually we get to see the main characters go on a quest that is impossible to achieve. This case is not different, and even though the Oracle tells Ashitaka that he cannot change his fate, she mentions that there may be an alternative by going west and facing the calamity of Mikado (evil demon) to lift the curse. So Ashitaka leaves the village knowing he should never return. That is when the classic epic adventure starts, and we go on a journey through a forest full of fantastic creatures, gods and demons. One of these "creatures" is no other than Princess Mononoke, a young girl whose soul the wolf stole, and who has vowed to kill the wolf's enemy, Lady Eboshi. The relationship that develops between Ashitaka and Mononoke is a complex one, and Miyazaki uses the disturbed nature of these characters masterfully to make the story even more interesting. When you put together a great story, with impeccable animation, appropriate music that complements the action perfectly and a few surprises here and there, the result is a movie that is top notch. Therefore, the only thing left to say is that I highly recommend this film, it is a must see! "Pure anime in it's brightest form!"I love movies directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This movie I hadn't seen so I presumed it was good. The critics said it was good, so I bought it at my local Target for 20 dollars. It was worth every penny! It was probably one of the absolute best movie by Miyazaki. It was rated PG-13 for the graphic war scenes which got better and better! I love this movie! You will love it! "a great movie"i dont know why everyone is recomending this movie to older audiences because of violence, or "deep plot". there is not that much violence in this movie, and the plot is easy to follow. I watched this movie in 4th grade and thought it was great. the character development is fantastic and the animals are suposed to be gods, not just animals (to those who think this is an environmentalist movie). this was an excelent movie from a great japanese writer.  "The Three-Hour Epic"The animation was beautiful but the story was way too long; it just seemed to be a comedy of tragedies. That's all I have to say.  "More like "Princess Monkeynookie.""After hearing that this anime was "better than Akira," I decided to drive to the local Blockbuster and rent this title. I popped it in my Xbox and was hoping it would live up to the hype. Unfortunatelly, it didn't. I'm not a huge fan of Miyazaki as I've only seen two of his films (the other was Spirited Away, but I loved that one). I think Miyazaki should have just stuck to making kid's anime. This flick has several flaws. The first being that the character designs look way too silly for an adult oriented anime. While I appreciate the fact that the animation and environments are beautiful, the characters look too silly. Second, the plot is silly. A bunch of animals fighting humans as if they were soldiers is too childish, perhaps if it were for kids then it would be appreciable, but since it's for adults, it's just laughable. I appreciate the fact that there's no "good or evil" characters, but the plot just makes me chuckle. From the opening to the end, my interest in this anime was nonexistent. Don't let the fact that there's famous actors in this feature fool you into thinking it's great. Infact, the performances by them were piss-poor. I also think that Princess Mononoke herself is one of the most annoying anime characters ever made. She hates humans even though she's human, hasn't she ever looked at her reflection in the lake and realize what she is? She's as preachy about how evil humans are as Jerry Falwell is about preaching the Baptist gospel (it's all lies, comrade). She's the same on evironmentalism. I'm not against environemtalism, but Princess Mononoke is like those spineless protestors at a WTO protest who don't know s*** about the environment, don't bother to ask questions about the environment, and all listen to horrible punk and ska crap like Anti-Flag and Less than Jake. Because of this, I don't sympathize with her and her animal allies. This, like The Passion of the Christ, is just a guilt-trip for people to watch and make them feel bad about being human. I also don't care for those annoying "tree spirits." They're like the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi (except that was a good movie). My sympathy went to NOBODY on this anime. I'm glad I didn't blast that DVD rental with my AK-47 because if I did, I'd be down 20-30 dollars. The people who think this is better than Akira (the best anime ever) should jump off the 2,000 foot radio tower in Warszawa, Poland. As Akira kicked Princess Mononoke's ass in all directions. It had more action, a way better plot, and characters I can sympathize with. You should also watch Ninja Scroll if you want a great Martial arts anime. |
