Sometimes you just have to go against the grain.....

Rating: 1/10 (6 January 2006)

Last night I watched this film. Just before the credits rolled, one of my cats got up, gave a disdainful sniff, walked into the bathroom and into his box, and delivered his own large and malodorous comment.
I have to go with my cat on this one. My immediate reaction to this film when it ended was, very simply, "Great looking, but the dumbest story I have seen in a long, long time." I have to admit to a few criteria here. I am not an animation fan. For me, animation pretty much begins and ends with Warner Brothers and Chuck Jones, who taught us all that pretty pictures and trembling leaves and water droplets always get trumped by a great script. Jones's best work, combining a linear and somewhat abstract style with high and low comedy, is the best. Disney--let's face it--is gooey. And many other recent animation hits have been 15 minute shorts exploded into features, like "The Triplets of Bellville," which would have been far better if it had stopped after the first 15 minutes. (Okay, okay, I did like "Toy Story". And "Fantasia.") "Princess Mononoke" gets points for two things. First, it looks good and often looks wonderful. Second, it does sustain itself for close to two hours. And credit is due for trying to be serious, while still catering to the core kid demographic. However, Miyazaki's script is, to put it charitably, a mess. Its civilization vs. nature theme is very, very tired, and most of the time it just does not make any sense. A single example: Forest Spirit's head is removed. FS turns into a Japanese version of the blob and destroying the forest. FS gets head back--dies and crushes Irontown--and the forest grows again. Someone please convince me that this can make any sense whatsoever. If you are going to the trouble of creating a film for adults with capital-S Significance, you ought at least to make your case persuasively. You can call it ecological consciousness; you can call it Shinto animism; I call it pretentious, ill-digested crap.
This has been touted as one of the great films of our time. Sorry, this reviewer will generally agree with his cat's tribute. Seek it out if you are an animation junkie and enthralled with the techniques. I certainly cannot recommend it as a film.