NOT the "Star Wars of animated features"

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2016)

No matter what the New York Post said about it (as is recorded on many of the DVD editions of the film), this is definitely not the pinnacle of animated films, nor even of Miyazaki's own work. I really, really wanted to like this film more than I did. I am a big fan of Miyazaki and this is supposed to be his masterpiece, but I'm just not able to go that far in my own assessment of it. It was complex, and beautifully animated (as you expect from Miyazaki), but it left me a bit hollow. Part of it was the incredible violence in the film (NOT for children under 13, IMO), and part of it was hearing Billy Bob Thornton's drawl as the voice of Jigo, but a big part of my reluctance to rate this film more highly is that it felt a bit like Miyazaki was reaching for something that he had already grasped. I think he addressed almost identical themes in a much better way in Nausicaa. Princess Mononoke seemed uncharacteristically "preachy" and heavy-handed, in contrast with Miyazaki's generally subtle style. I know it's super popular and has a stellar reputation, but I just can't recommend it when there are so many other great works available from this true Artist of Anime.