The tale of Man vs. Nature

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2013)

There is a long-running debate about Studio Ghibli movies as to whether it is necessary to watch them with subtitles, or it is okay to use the dubbed English. I won't get too far into this for fear of starting an argument, but for "Princess Mononoke", I did feel that the subtitles slightly ruined my viewing experience. Unlike many other movies that I've watched with subs, they felt slightly distracting. However, despite this, I did enjoy the film very much.
The movie is essentially the tale of man vs. nature. A prince from a secluded tribe has to leave to meet his fate and save himself from certain death. Along the way, he meets a princess who is the daughter of a god (a large wolf), and she is fighting another woman who is the head of a large mining cooperation. The iron mine's presence means that the forest, home to many spirits, demons and other creatures, is being destroyed. To the untrained viewer, "Princess Mononoke" is just a dressed up fairy tale, about the destruction of the countryside and pollution. Really, it's a lot more than that. There's a lot about good and evil in the film, and how one person's good is another person's evil. It's very thought provoking, and creates a lot of questions afterwards. The characters are strange and fascinating, and their stories are told in such a way that you feel like you know what they've been through. Ashitaka's constant ability to see good in everyone is a quality which is not often seen, and it works well throughout.
The biggest and best part of the film, however, is the animation. It's very beautiful and the fact that it's hand drawn makes it even more stunning. The action is gripping, and the huge battles towards the end are always interesting and engaging. Miyazaki has a magical way of thinking up spectacular monsters and creatures which you let yourself believe exist while your watching. It's very quirky in its animation, with strange things like the kodama, but this merely adds to its charm.
The biggest problem with the film is its length. It's over 2 hours long, and this just feels like too much at numerous parts of the film. Even Spirited Away, which is barely 2 hours, feels like a strain at some point, and in Mononoke, it really drags at times when you're not really sure what's going on. The length does make the ending feel like more of an achievement, though, and it's the ending that makes certain parts of the film feel more worth it.