Review of Princess Mononoke (1997) by Kyle20Ellis — 29 Mar 2022

Princess Mononoke is one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time, and is up there with Studio Ghibli's best along with Spirited Away. I will say I am probably biased, as I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan, and love all of their films, I even like Cat Returns, which along with PomPoko is considered as one of the weaker Ghibli efforts.

The animation in Princess Mononoke is absolutely stunning, with rich detailed backgrounds and brilliant character animation. The image of the Stag actually made my jaw drop. The music is fantastic as well, and although environmentalism is a subject matter very difficult to get right, what the filmmakers succeeded in doing was making a highly intriguing story that was not only original but succeeded in not being preachy at all.

The film is also helped by the high calibre vocal talents of Minnie Driver, Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton et al (voicing quite remarkable characters) and a strong script. True, some of the images like the Demon Worm, may frighten younger viewers, but it is fair to say they were very powerful.

All in all, Princess Mononoke is breathtaking and I recommend it highly.