Princess Mononoke (PG-13) **** Featuring the voices of Billy Crudup, Claire Daines Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Year Released: 1999 A Review by Frankie Paiva
Japanese anime is a world of film that has been limited to obscure video store shelves for far too long. The stunning detail that is in each cell of animation cannot possibly be appreciated, or given the proper gratitude, by watching an anime film on video. Recently, one of the first anime films to be released in a while Perfect Blue was released into theaters. It did very good business and opened the door right up for this animation classic. Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime in Japan) was the biggest grossing animated film of all time in Japan. Now with the help of English actors for the voices, it’s ready to set sail across the ocean for the viewing pleasure of everyone who enjoys anime or cinema in general.
Ashitaka is a warrior who has been put under a curse by the forest God. It leaves an ugly looking purple gash on his arm that will continue to grow until it envelops his entire body, and then it will kill him. The elderly woman of the village says that if he goes to the forest of the forest Gods that he may be able to have the curse lifted. So off he goes riding into the forest until he reaches the pool of the forest God. Nearby there is a mining colony called Irontown led by Lady Eboshi. She wants to hunt and kill the forest God because all of the animals that she kills and all of the trees that she cuts down are being re-planted by people of the forest. If she kills him, all forest Gods will become mortal again and will be easily killed.
He also meets Princess Mononoke. She lives with an extremely large wolf pack and is trying to save the forest. Her destiny is to kill Lady Eboshi to save the forest and all of the animals living in it. A tribe of boars also enters the picture when they decide to charge and kill Lady Eboshi and her men.
Princess Mononoke is worth seeing three or four times just to look at the beautifully drawn animation. No detail was spared, in scenes where Ashitake runs through the forest all of the shadows of the trees and branches are perfectly laid out to where they would be in real life. The forest God is quirky and cool looking and you don't even want to get me started about what it looks like when people are engulfed with hate. The expressions on the characters' faces make up for the usual lack of good dubbing. What a bad job it is! Many people I talked to thought (and I agree with them) that while watching the film, it’s painfully obvious which American celebrities are doing the voices. Why not have Japanese people do the voices for the English version of the film? It would sound a lot better and more authentic. While the storyline sounds complicated, it’s not that hard to get. Besides, if you get lost there is always the animation to look at. Mononoke has a great message, and the premise of trying to balance nature with production to work together to form a better economy is a great lesson. Especially for some construction workers who treat trees as things that exist only for them to chop down. The ending is also slightly confusing, but I won’t give anything else away. If you are fortunate enough to have Princess Mononoke to be at a theater near you, go and see it. If not, rent it on video and watch it on a really big screen. This animation classic gets **** stars.
The Young-Uns: Several soldiers get either their arms or heads chopped off, but it’s usually shown at a distance. (Remember this film is animated) there is also some very scary looking boars and some mild language. Good Age 12 & Up
A Review by Frankie Paiva The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com Visit my website at: http://www.homestead.com/teenagemoviecritic/mainpage.html
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