One of the best films in years

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 1999)

I was going to say "best animated films", but to do Mononoke justice you should try to forget it's animated. That's very hard, because Miyazaki shows us stunning images that you can't see any other way... the demon boar-god of writhing blood worms; The forest god by day and by night; the glade of the forest god; San with her bloody face. What I mean is that this movie succeeds on any and all terms; it shouldn't be compared with other anime, or with Disney features. It's one of the best movies of the last several years, period, end.
The characters are great: Ashitaka is truly a hero with a noble heart, a Frodo seeking to bear a curse away from his village. Lady Eboshi's whole story, not just the part we see, would make a hell of a movie or novel by itself. San is an elemental character, pure devotion to her wolf-goddess mother and the forest and ferocity to any threats to it. The story that results is incomparable.
You'll probably have to see this movie on video, and you'll miss a lot. But see it.