As Good as Animation Gets

Rating: 10/10 (10 January 2015)

Princess Mononoke is by far the best anime I have ever seen. I've seen Spirited Away, Howell's Moving Castle, Ghost in the Shell, and many others, but none equal the beauty, depth, and epic storytelling of this film. Mononoke features as many fully developed characters as the largest Hollywood ensemble production, slicker fight scenes than many martial arts flicks, larger battle scenes than most war movies, and visuals as awe-inspiring as any ever drawn. The New York Post was right on the money in calling it "The Star Wars of animated features." I apologize ahead of time, but there is no way I can fully convey what makes this movie great without including spoilers. Consider yourself warned.
The first thing that strikes you as you watch this movie is that dozens of Japan's best animators must have spent months on ending animating this film. The line art, pencils, and coloring are flawlessly executed and richly detailed in every scene. The movements and expressions of both people and animals are perfectly lifelike, individual leaves can be seen blowing in the breeze, and at times hundreds of characters occupy the screen, accompanied by smoke and flashes of gunfire. The writhing tentacles of the boar demon must have taken dozens of hours to draw all by themselves. Even Disney would probably give in and use CGI at this point. Come to think of it, the credits did mention a small computer animation staff, but for the life of me I can't remember a single frame that looked computer generated.
Then there are the people. Prince Ashitaka is one of the bravest, most skilled warriors I've seen. His proficiency with both sword and bow would do Link proud. He also possesses wisdom and empathy well beyond his years. He fights and kills when he must, but his utmost priority is to save lives. And he repeatedly risks his life to stop the fighting around him, though it brings the distrust and at times enmity of all sides.
Lady Iboshi is equally fascinating. Ruthless, ambitious, utterly fearless, and possessing impeccable manners, she comes off at first glance as the perfect villain. Her position as the region's top arms manufacturer and the revelation that she was indirectly responsible for his curse do little to dispel this image. After his outburst on first meeting her, and the attempt on her life, which ended with the prince helping the wounded assailant get away, I was certain that Ashitaka would side with the wolves against Irontown. And I felt a growing dread that the filmmakers would give in to heavy handed environmentalist moralizing, a la Fern Gulley.
Amazingly though, they resist this temptation, instead taking a far more nuanced approach. Yes, Lady Iboshi is ruthless. Yes, she has despoiled swaths of the surrounding forests. And yes, she is in collusion with the film's real villain, whose scheme nearly brings on the ruin of everyone. But she is also generous and loyal to those who follow her. Everything she does, good, bad, or in between is to protect her people or to honor debts owed. Despite early appearances, she's an not evil woman, but a determined leader doing what she feels that she must.
But the most interesting character by far is San, the wolf princess. Raised by wolves since infancy, San believes that she is a wolf, and bears an intense hatred of humanity, to the point of becoming violent when it is pointed out that she is human. And make no mistake; San is a very violent, very tough young woman. The first time we see her, she is covered in her adoptive mother's blood, which she is sucking from a poisoned wound. This chick is hard core.
With characters like these there is lots of action, and all of it is awesome. The fight scenes are fast paced and beautifully choreographed, if that's the right word to use for animation. The prince's opening clash with the boar demon is exhilarating and more than a bit frightening, and the duel between San and Iboshi is simply breathtaking in the intensity and skill displayed by both combatants. The later battle sequences are likewise stunning in their scale and violence. The charge of the boar tribe rival's the Rohirrim's charge from Return of the King in its thunderous power, and the ending is like something out of Godzilla.
Any way you look at it, Princess Mononoke is a wonderful film. It's grandiose, exciting, spellbinding, filled with a rich cast of characters, and possesses a clear message about the need for balance between man and nature, and the destructive power of anger. It may be too violent for small children, and I'm sure there's a good amount of subtext that western viewers will miss, but this is a movie that has something for everyone. I would highly recommend it to all audiences.