Review of Princess Mononoke (1997) by Heatherm — 28 Mar 2015

Princess Mononoke is a wildly inventive fable that explores the tensions between the human and natural worlds. Our main character **** remains resolutely in the middle of the two female leads, the Lady Eboshi and Princess Mononoke, which forces the viewer to assess both sides of the conflict for their merits and problems. Other reviews have said that its message is easy or straightfowrad, but I think it's incredibly complex--both the forest and the ironworks seem to be granted an essential right to exist, and it feels like the impossible goal is to find a way for them to exist together peacefully. These problems aren't presented moralistically, however, as our main character stumbles into this complex situation as part of an already-engaging plot, and the various story elements are gracefully brought together into one essential conflict.

The characters and their problems are well-rounded, as Miyazaki makes excellent use of the movie's long runtime to develop the protagonists. Everything is, of course, gorgeously animated. The animal gods in particular are beautiful and inventively portrayed; the way the animals' speech is animated is especially engaging. The many action and battle scenes as well are skilfully done, so that the action is both fast-paced and followable.

Overall, I was incredibly impressed by this movie and I'm sure I'll watch it again to try to tease out more of the problems. This movie gives a lot of thought to the essential and complex problems of humans and human society, and it urges viewers to consider these problems as well. A smart, beautiful, and thought-provoking film.