A masterpiece of art and animation

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2015)

Wow. This movie blew me away, to say the very least. All of it was captivating; the animation, the characters, and story, all of it done to perfection. Hayao Miyazaki, whose work I'm only beginning to take notice of, is truly a genius in terms of bringing landscapes and it's many creatures to life.
The plot revolves around Prince Ashitaka, who is told that he must leave his village and never return after he is cursed by a horrible demon. Ashitaka, along with his red elk, Yakul, sets out on a journey to "see with eyes unclouded by hate," as he puts it and his journey brings him to see many things. He comes across a prosperous settlement that produces iron, fittingly named iron town, and its leader Lady Eboshi, voiced by Minnie Driver. Ashitaka finds that Iron town is at war with the creatures of the forest due to the human's attempting to settle in the forest to create prosperity, which of course the forest dwellers aren't happy about. Ashitaka later meets the princess of the wolf tribe San, who happens to be a human despite her title. Ashitaka becomes caught in the middle of a dispute as old as time itself, man versus animal.
Several other characters are added to the mix; a strange little man named Jigo, voiced by Billy Bob Thornton, the lieutenant to Lady Eboshi Gonza, voiced by John DiMaggio (the voice of Bender), Moro, the god of the wolves, and Okkoto the god of the boars. These characters are all brilliantly written, and all have their own likability. One thing that this movie does well is that there isn't really any main villain. All of them have reasonable motivations behind what they're doing. It would have been so easy for this movie to throw in a tired message about how man is evil and how we should save the environment. Many may argue that this movie is trying to set up this message, but I don't think so. Lady Eboshi isn't necessarily a bad person. She's a strong person, who doesn't back down in times of adversity. She's a good leader who protects her people and only wants the best for them, giving a home to the lepers, fighting for the lives of her people against the boars, and sticking up for her fellow women's rights and honor. While on the other side the wolves aren't the villains either; only wanting to protect the spirits of the forest and their home from what they perceive to be their worst enemy, the humans. It's understandable why both sides feel this way, they all have a reasonable motivation and likability.
The animation in this film is breathtaking, the creatures just fly off the screen with how they're drawn and how they move. The creatures in this world are all just so creative and beautiful in their designs. The Spirit of the Forest is one of my favorite designs in animation history, especially when the sun goes down. Even the designs of creatures that already exist, like the apes or the boars, all have a unique design and charm. This movie could honestly be watched on mute and still be thoroughly enjoyed.
The story of this movie is unbelievably fantastic and deserves much more recognition than it gets in the U.S. It's a fantastic movie by a fantastic animator and is now, after seeing this for the first time yesterday, one of my all time favorites.