Warning: Severe Culture Shock Ahead

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2000)

As much as I'd like to, I can't recommend this movie. I fell in love with Miyazaki's style and storytelling when I saw Totorro in the original Japanese. That is a sweet, engaging story with universal themes. Mononoke is something different -- a raw, crazy epic that I'm sure demands a great understanding of Japanese folklore. Unfortunately, Americans will alternate between lost and indifferent. The America overdubbers (especially Billy Bob Thornton and Claire Danes) are particularly bad and never help to "sell" this difficult story.