Simply incredible

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2000)

What else is there to say about this animated movie other than it's absolutely spectacular? Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke in the States) is the latest film from acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, and it somehow manages to top everything he's ever done (an incredibly difficult task, if you've ever seen any of his other movies). Where do I start? First off, the art is flat out jaw dropping. The backgrounds are incredibly detailed, the animation is always sharp and fluid, and the use of color amazing. In fact, I might buy this movie for its art alone, but then Miyazaki throws in an epic storyline and cast of interesting characters.
The storyline echoes the environmental themes of Miyazaki's 1984 classic Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa, but handles it in an interesting way; rather than make the humans into the antagonists and the plants and animals into the protagonists, this film presents both sides of the story and there are no clear bad guys or good guys. Both sides contain a capacity for good and evil, and the object of this movie's lead character, Ashitaka, is to get both sides to settle their disputes. It proves to be intriguing for the entire movie, and this is a fairly long movie.
If you've familiar with the world of anime, you'll know what a daunting task a good dubbing can be. Nevertheless, Disney has gone far and beyond what I would have expected and given this movie a truly first rate dubbing. The English dialogue was written by storyteller extraordinaire Neil Gaiman and English voices include such big names as Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Gillian Anderson, and Minnie Driver.
I can think of only one possible complaint people might have about this movie: that it's too similar to its predecessor, Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa. That may be true, but I think with its interesting ambivalent take to sides and unparalleled art, Mononoke Hime is a must see for everyone.