Heavy-handed, but still enjoyable

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2003)

Hayao Miyazaki seems to be totally obsessed with the theme of Nature vs Man and this movie overdoes it a little bit. And lacking the humour of Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko (1994, which he produced), it gets boring at times. On the other hand, it is still a well-made animation film that surpasses many Disney production. Not as good as Spirited Away, but still enjoyable.
Do avoid the English dubbing though. It's absolutely horrible. Hollywood stars just don't have a grip of the anime.