Princess Mononoke
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Movie Reviews of Princess Mononoke
Movie Review: One of the best balanced, as well as overall best Anime ever
Summary: 5 Stars
As there are already a lot of excellent customer reviews, I'll only throw in my 2 cents. This is an excellent blend of action anime with a many-layered dramatic story. While it is probably too "adult" for a pre-teen (graphic violence and the complexity of the characters), it is rare to see any film pack that much "meaning" and drama while still having enough visual conflicts to keep the action addicts happy. There is no black and white in this movie. There are no "darkest villians" or "perfect heros". Just many real people with real emotions, ideals, and prejudices.
The violence may be graphic, but it is not pointless, though it might require a decent knowlege of the martial arts, asian or western, to fully appreciate. Watch the reactions of the spectators and remember that most people in film have only seen swords and arrows as weapons. To them, a musket that can fire half-inch diameter ball of iron the same distance as an arrow is a super-weapon. Then consider a hand-cannon (tiny canon mounted on a stout staff for support and bracing - the first firearms) that fires 2-3 inch diameter solid iron balls, the power of the nature clans, and the power of a demon curse. No, I'd say the graphic aspect is pretty tame. I've fired a one inch hand cannon (historical re-creation society - and no, NOT at any person or animal - sickos), so I've seen first hand what they can do. I'd say an excellent job was done conveying the horror of the conflicts without getting gratuitous or showing what would REALLY happen (Saving Private Ryan for example, which is still watered down). There may be some scenes that seem like pointless violence (expecially with the English Dub), but you should discover the meanings after watching it several times. I'm over half a dozen viewings, and I'm still finding subtle nuances I missed.
This is simply an excellent dramatic film with the freedom of visual expression Anime can provide, and boy, does this film provide! For the greatest "adult" enjoyment, see the film in Japanese with the English subtitles (well, short of being fluent in Japanese with a good knowlege of Japanese culture and history, present and ancient - but that's a bit much to ask)
As for the Dubbing - well, considering the prejudices of the US film market and the realities the film buisiness, they pretty much have to "dumb" down the English versions to create a wide enough appeal to pay for the English release in the first place, expecially since this was first done in the US as a theatrical release with some expensive talent. While the English dub definately loses a lot of the drama of the original Japanese, it certainly is not near as bad as 80% of the other dubs I've seen. As it stands, it is an excellent translation for the general English speaking audience. And if it gets more people to appreciate Anime and hopefully insipire them to watch it with literal English subtitles, well I consider it a good thing. As it stands, unless there's a multi-billionare out there who wants to spend a LOT of money to get an accurate English dubbing and the extra treatment a lot of Anime deserves, we'll all just have to settle for a good subtitle job or learn fluent Japanese and sorrow for the countless others who miss the true nature of good Anime.
In short, this is one of the best FILMS I have ever seen. It's a real shame that the distributors chickened out and haven't marketed it as it deserves. But, what can you expect from Buena Vista (a.k.a. Disney) since it is so vastly different from their standard "animation". While I can decry about what should have been done, I also have to thank them for making it widely available.
Hmmm....seems I dropped a $20 bill with the two pennies.
Movie Review: A story about the almost undeniable effects of hate, and a legedary quest of peace in a world of war
Summary: 5 Stars
Princess Mononoke is directed by the famous Hayao Miyazaki, who is best known for his unworldly imagination. There is perhaps no other medium of film that can hope to express what things come from his dreams. Anime has been around since I was a little kid, and yet this modern classic has eluded me until just now. It reminds me of how direct and simple a story can appear to be at first, and yet that simplistic story altogether manages to open your minds box, and expose you to breath-taking beauty. Princess Mononoke is a fantastic world that is in the last days of its purity. Gods still roam the magical forests, and people are still afraid to wander too deep into them. These are perhaps ancient fears that we are born with that are now archaic, but nontheless still thicken our blood and are instantly respected.
Ashitaka is one of the hero's in Princess Mononoke, in a story that really does not have a story book bad guy. The closest thing to it is the ambitious, yet humane Lady Eboshi. But she is much too tempered by faith, and noble responsiblity for her people. She does not seek to harm and abide in the death of mother nature, but is rather a dedicated leader that believes she is making the best choices for her people considering the alternatives. In this world, there are choices and there are consequences, and those balances make the climatic ending even more unforgetable.
San has been raised by wolf's but one day her simple tale of revenge is blown of its track when she is saved by a human boy, whose last words before certain death is to describe succinctly that she is beautiful. Not the typical last words of a race she sees with only eyes of bitter hate. And she is uprooted with new feelings that perhaps she has never felt before. The cold blade that delivers death cannot slit Ashitaka's throat. It lies at his throat, just a pulse away from releasing his pain and leaving the world without one more evil human. It is the wolf way, and their forest is under attack by the unnumberable humans anyways. She has had a violent life, in some scenes here face is bloodied, and it seems to suit her primal characteristic. But compassion and something else transforms the entire movie on its face.
Princess Mononoke is lacking in nothing, and is an epic anime movie that has rocked my world. I think that you find a new perception about peace and the qualities of the world after watching Princess Mononoke. It portrays a new world, even for old dogs to the cinema world. Watch it with dub or with direct translation subtitles and its original Japanese, I really do not prefer one over the other. I appreciated some of the voice-over work done by english speaking actors here. The wolf god is spoken by a male in the original Japanese, and I really thought that mother was better spoken by the english woman chosen for the role instead, because she added another layer of cruelty, mien, and on the other hand the capability to be kind, as she is wise to the world. All of this just by her voice.
Princess Mononoke is a legendary picture, and is officially the longest running anime of all time. It has been heralded by critics around the world and is of national pride in Japan. If you haven't seen this stunning movie then I highly recommend you see this fantastic movie. It was painted with hundreds of additional colors and many scenes were hand drawn by Mr. Hayao Miyazaki himself. I think of this movie more as a piece of beautiful art.
Movie Review: Spectacular Anime
Summary: 5 Stars
Master filmmaker Miyazaki has created one of the most beautiful animated movies I've ever seen. Frankly, I'm beyond impressed. Anime seems to have a much more realistic feel and the themes are very adult in nature. With intellectual themes, magical creatures and mature relationship issues, this is one captivating movie.
Even though the film doesn't make judgments about good or evil, it does make a statement that pervades the entire story. The message is ecological in nature and asks many questions about the role of humans and animals on the planet. The characters have to deal with loyalty, fate and death. The characters are really not trying to save the planet, they are dealing more with survival issues.
Princess Mononoke was raised by wolves on a mountain. She wears a fur type coat with ears attached. Very cute. The mountain is ruled by the forest spirit who never speaks, but has the power to give or take life. The tiny forest spirits that rattle their heads are adorable. They are like little ghosts. The forest spirit changes shape at night and when he walks through the forest as a "deer god," flowers grow around his hooves.
The forest is so beautiful it is not difficult to see why the animals want to preserve the pristine location. The animals all talk and are larger than most animals. In fact, they are actually gods defending their mountains. There is quite a bit of violence so this is not really an animated movie for children. They might be a bit frightened by the boar crawling with demon worms or the huge explosion that kills the boars.
Ashitaka takes up the role of warrior and kills a demon-boar monster threatening his village. In killing this angry beast, he is cursed and retains a marking on his skin from the battle. When he arrives in the forest, he finds himself torn between helping the animals and helping the humans.
"Ashitaka: Look, everyone! This is what hatred looks like! This is what it does when it catches hold of you! It's eating me alive, and very soon now it will kill me! Fear and anger only make it grow faster!"
I think it is honor that drives him to help the women of Irontown. I don't think he really is fighting on the side of Lady Eboshi. At least we don't want him to because she is after all trying to kill the forest spirit. I think Ashitaka is trying to take both sides or is at least trying to promote peace. He sees that humans need to work to make a living and that might include chopping down a few trees. The wolf tells him that when the trees are chopped down they cry. I don't like chopping down trees, but I don't think they cry. ;) That was when the movie went off into a more mythological interpretation.
While Princess Mononoke takes the side of the wild boar tribe, Ashitaka takes the side of the outcasts working in an iron mine.
A much more realistic feel than most Disney animations. This also has a much deeper emotional appeal for adults.
I could have watched the dragonflies and butterflies in this movie for a much longer period of time. The delicate mist floating over the lush hillsides was amazing in itself. The beauty of the forest spirit was just amazing and really you just have to see this movie to believe how beautiful animation can be. The scenes of the Night walker are just astounding from an animation perspective.
~The Rebecca Review
Movie Review: amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
this movie is a classic. the animation is spectacular and the story very well done. I happen to be somewhat into japanese culture as of present, but before i was so into it, and people who i know now who are not into it, sometimes japanese media goes over their heads. the cultures are kind of different and place importance on different things and when a person used to seeing one kind of story or moral repeated over and over in different ways sees something else... well they may not immediately appreciate it (an example of this would be how at the end he doesn't end up with the girl. this happens in almost every western movie because we are very focused on the 'happy ending' fairytale, validating the storyline with the 'kiss at the end', but that doesn't happen in all cultures). however, i found princess mononoke to somewhat transcend this confusion, because the story is so relatable and well told. i found it to be so when i first watched it, which would be late elementary school, and feel this way even more now.
the story can be translated in many ways, but the general message i got out of it was the modern attempting to erase tradition. the people of iron town worked hard to destroy the forest because by doing so they could earn a living in the new world making iron. the only way they could do this however was to cut down the forests, which meant that they would have to kill the gods from the old world, who were already dying out. the thing is that the lady osono (or whatever) is painted in something of a bad light as she is cutting down the forest and killing the gods, but she is an amazingly strong humanist and a proactive woman in a time and place where women weren't liable to have that status (the status might help to paint her as a 'bad guy' however, because even though we are making progressions, many people are still very sexist... i would bet you that if not you yourself, someone you know thinks that women are by nature evil or devious... in 2008). So when looking at it in this light osono is opting for humanity. she takes in those lepers, she saves brothel workers from whatever fate they would face in brothels, etc. and yet she's the bad guy. interesting to note at any rate.
ashitaka is a great protagonist. a pacifist to the end. he goes on his journey to find something to remove his curse, not for selfish reasons i don't think, but to right the wrong. he's a pretty selfless person. at the beginning of the movie, the reason he got the curse was because his sister was in the way of the boar, so he had to shoot it, but before that he was trying to talk to it. this is basically how he acts throughout the movie. he tries to get things done without violence, but if it comes to it, he will resort to violence to protect himself or those he cares about.
didn't really notice the environmental message when i first saw it. i was more focused on cultural loss. but recently, with the environmental bludgeon the media has been playing around with, i noticed just how 'for nature' this movie was. traditionalism would of course take the stance against industry which would be a way to save the forest, so it makes sense, but i guess i just went into it too symbolically. it does have a pleasant environmental message however, better than a lot of other animated environmental movies.
so, to sum up, this is a great movie.
Movie Review: Intelligent Animation for Intelligent Adults
Summary: 5 Stars
It unapologetically shows decapitations and dismemberments, slaughter, betrayal and murder. Those blithely seeking cartoon pabulum will be shocked and offended. But if you are looking for provocative intelligent adult anime, then Princess Mononoke is like a sea wind blowing away the saccharine smog that smothers western animation.
For one thing, it has no villains. This will confuse childish minds conditioned to expect not only good and bad in every movie, but to have the bad guys clearly labelled with black hats, scars and ugly sneers. For another, it doesn't hide its ambivalence with technology or its respect for nature. In fact, that is its thesis: how we lose our way when we reject our connection to the natural world. This will offend narrow minds who look upon any challenge to their anthropocentrism as "anti-human" or "tree-hugging sentimentality".
This film argues that evil is not so much the satanic absolute modeled in western tradition as it is an organic malady caused by pain and despair. We do not become evil because we are corrupted by some outside agency; we become evil because we choose hatred over acceptance when confronted by the inevitability of death. How many western cartoons dare to tack into such philosophical winds?
Princess Mononoke punctures conventions. The princess of the title is a wolf-child saved from death as an infant by a wolf god and her pack. Now consider: in a western cartoon, the wolf pack would be a misunderstood and persecuted animal family too cute for words and too noble to stomach. In this movie, they are a snarling force of nature who do not hesitate to kill. However, they earn our sympathy because we understand that they are driven to kill both out of necessity and because it is their nature to do so. In a western cartoon, heroic animals would automatically mean casting their human opponents in the role of villains. But in Princess Mononoke, the humans compete for our sympathy because they too are convinced that they must destroy the wolves to ensure their own survival. In a western cartoon, the male hero would rescue the female heroine to live happily ever after. I won't spoil the ending, but consider how much more intelligent, more thoughtful and truer to character is the conclusion in this film.
This juxtaposition of conflicting needs and loyalties, all with their own justifications, their own perspectives, and their own claims on our sympathies, combine to produce a richly textured world that is complex in scope and multifaceted in meaning. This film does not capitulate to simplistic solutions. Much of hard work and great beauty is destroyed in the end, but the film still concludes on a note of hope, with the thought that something of wisdom has survived all the death and destruction, and that nature recovers and humans rebuild, perhaps this time, avoiding the mistakes of the past.
Like all of Miyazaki's works, he strives for significance over saccharine sentiment. His films are gourmet meals beside the candyfloss of western animation, and I feel a sense of intellectual satiation and fulfilment from Princess Mononoke that western animation rarely invokes. This is intelligent animation for intelligent adults. One need not agree with Miyazaki's world-view, but discerning viewers can't help admiring the beauty, the vitality and the intelligence of it.