Princess Mononoke Review
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami’s curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Why did I come to this movie again?
The hubby and I are fans of Mayazaki’s work, and decided to see this again in the theater! It had been a long time since I’d seen it.
5 of 5
Characters
Eastern films are very different than the ones we’re used to. This one is 25 years old, and it has better characters than a lot of the movies that are produced today.
For instance, the bad guy (gal, in this case) is very nuanced. Yes, she’s ruining the environment, but she’s also freed a bunch of prostitutes and given them a place they can work and call home without having to sell their bodies. She also employs lepers. Is she using them? Yes. Is she also helping them? Yes.
The hero was courageous and kind, as I like them.
Princess Mononoke was less interesting than I remembered, but still cool.
5 of 5
Did I care what happened?
Yes. There were multiple plot threads being pulled at the same time throughout the whole movie. I did get confused about who was working for who and why a few times. That threw me out of the story.
4 of 5
Plot Holes
It’s anime. There were plot holes.
4 of 5
How many times did I yawn?
The film felt 20-30 minutes too long. And that’s from a girl who doesn’t mind spending that much time in a theater.
I figure it’s the differences between eastern and western storytelling that’s the issue. I’m used to a certain pacing and this story didn’t always follow it.
The film is still super watchable, but long.
4 of 5
Cool Factor
The animation was excellent.
The story ideas were interesting.
The blind boar at the end. Ugh. So amazing…also gross.
5 of 5
The End
The end was both hopeful and not.
The lady ruining the environment is going to rebuild (did she learn nothing??), bringing hope to the people she leads.
Princess Mononoke still hates the humans and is going to go back into the forest.
All I could think was that this was going to happen again. That was probably the point, but I didn’t love, love it.
4 of 5
Overall Enjoyment
This was really fun to see again after so many years. The theater was filled with fellow geeks, and we had a great evening.
It’s almost always worth the time to watch one of Mayazaki’s films!
5 of 5
Total: 36
