Princess Mononoke was released on July 12, 1997. It is an anime film, made by Hayao Miyazaki, for Studio Ghibli. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and stars (in the dubbed version) Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Minnie Driver, and Billy Bob Thornton. Here is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ4pxURy5-I
My experience with anime hasn't been very big. Excluding Princess Mononoke, I have seen 2 anime films (Akira and Spirited Away, and yes, both are on the list), 3/4 of a series (Fruits Basket), and read volume 1 of Akira (which isn't anime, it's manga). I do want to see more, the problem is that I like to watch DVD's, and anime is very hard to find on DVD. However, I have vowed to watch more, hopefully to the level of being an otaku. But oh well, we're not here to talk about anime and becoming an otaku, we're here to talk about Princess Mononoke.
As far as I can tell, Hayao Miyazaki is widely regarded as one of the greatest anime filmmakers of all time. Spirited Away is good proof of that. It's a brilliant film, and one of the few that can make me cry. This film came out before Spirited Away, and to me, it seems like he had not yet perfected his craft. This film is good, but I found it to be very odd. Admittedly, that's what I thought with Spirited Away and Akira, but both have grown over time for me, particularly Spirited Away.
I had the dubbed version, so that's what I will be reviewing. I was very shocked to see Billy Crudup voice main character Ashitaka, because he sounds completely different than Billy Crudup does. He sounds like he was the greatest teenage warrior who ever lived. Young, smart, and honourable. That's the sign of a good actor, and especially a good voice actor, when you can't recognize them at all. He's also a great character, accepting his fate as doomed, but looking for a cure anyway, simply because he must. Claire Danes also did a great job, as San, the titular Princess Mononoke, because I couldn't hear Claire Danes in this film either, but I knew she was in this film, so some of the effect was lost. The rest of the cast did good, the only real problem for me being Billy Bob Thornton, who is instantly recognizable. He still did a pretty good job, though.
The basic story is typical of anime, particularly Miyazaki anime. It deals with nature, strong female characters, and spirits, all recurring themes in Miyazaki productions. The plot concerns Ashitaka, a young warrior, who is forced to kill a boar demon that attacks his village. The boar demons touches his arm, giving him a curse that gives him super strength, marks on his arm, and a death sentence. He leaves the village in order to search for a cure, travelling west. He reaches Iron Town, a town that makes iron from the charcoal from the neighbouring forests. This puts them at odds with the wolf god and her family, including San, a human adopted by the wolf family, and raised as a wolf. She is known as Princess Mononoke by the residents of Iron Town. Overall, it was a good story, but had what I call the typical anime overload. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but puts me off the first time I watch an anime. Essentially, near the end of the film, things start happening, making the anime a complete mess of confusion. Admittedly, I've seen worse, but I was still very confused near the end. This could be typical of anime, but for me, it can be a little jarring. I still want to watch more anime, though.
Now, I don't know much about animation, but let me say, the animation here was great. This film combined 3D computer generated imagery with hand-drawn animation, and it looked absolutely beautiful. Without a doubt, this animation was fantastic, particularly whenever the demon worms appear on screen. (Watch the film, and you'll know what I mean.) This is mostly the work of Miyazaki himself, and applaud must be given to him.
While I did enjoy this, I didn't think it was great. There were many good aspects, but overall, it just wasn't great, and not up to par like Spirited Away. Admittedly, this came out before Spirited Away, so no blame can be found there. Overall, I give this film a 7.5/10. It was a touch decision between this and an 8, but I decided this because it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. However, I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested. This film will probably grow with time, though. Tell you what, when I review the next anime on this list (Akira, #440), I'll give a new score for Princess Mononoke.
Next time, I'm watching Superbad, one of Judd Apatow's best.
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