When Ashitaka battles a boar monster, the young warrior is bitten, infected and scarred. He may die of his wounds. Now, the village sorceress tells him, he must find the god of the forest in order to be cured. She's mowing down trees in pursuit of iron ore. Eboshi's chief opponent is a young woman raised by and living among the wolves.
Conflict becomes multisided, multi-species and increasingly more violent.
That always seems to be the case with boar wars. Others in the stellar vocal cast include Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Gillian Anderson and Keith David. Environmental concerns are uppermost, though the film's structure resembles a new take on a classic western. Rated PG-13 for images of violence and gore.