seventy percent

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2011)

This is a good movie: meaning it's made well, acted well, and has a good plot and character appeal.
The animation is astounding for me personally. All of Miyazaki's films are crafted brilliantly in the visual sense. The combination of two dimensional and three dimensional creates quite a detailed, and charming picture. I have never really like Miyazaki's humans I must admit. I do read a good amount of manga, so the general style is familiar to me, and I'm not too adverse to the art genre really-the large eyes and lack of obvious distinction between males and females etc.. It's only when Miyazaki means for a person to be beautiful, they usually don't strike me that way.
The plot is interesting. But I don't like environmentalist fables, feminism, or talking animals. And the elements listed are prominent in the film. It's a good action romance all in all. Heavy on the mythology, but has almost too much reality included (so that it nearly clashes), meaning the frequent references to prostitution, which was rampant during the time period portrayed (and of course, often found nowadays).
The characters are likable. Ashitaka (or however his name is spelled) makes a determined, and virtuous hero, who is almost but not quite depicted like a sort of demigod. The villains are dignified yet foolish, and very understandable. The love-interest is a wild and brash teenager. Most of the women in this film are shown to be stronger and more respectable than the males around them-common in feminist Miyazaki's works. A bit of relieving balance is achieved, as while the women (who notably were under horrible conditions before they acquired somewhat extreme confidence) are sure of their superiority, they cannot help but be awed by Ashitaka.
This is a very enjoyable movie, and if you like restrained, pleasant fantasy,I recommend Princess Mononoke.