1077. Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) (1997)

Starring: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Running Time: 134 mins

Princess Mononoke is a Japanese film about a prince who, during a voyage to cure himself of a monstrous curse, becomes involved in a titanic war between humans and forest gods over the future of the magical woodland, also meeting a girl living with wolves who he allies himself with.

This is a really engrossing and entertaining war film. It may drag a little bit throughout its two hour-plus duration, but it’s on the whole a great watch, with fascinating depth surrounding its mythology, beautiful animation and brilliant action.

As with all films by Studio Ghibli, the animation here is absolutely brilliant. Whilst it may not have the wonderment and awe of some of the lighter films such as My Neighbour Totoro, the quality of the animation really makes a lot of the more fantastical elements of this story all the more exciting to see.

The story is also brilliantly interesting. As I said, the mythology about all of the gods and demons in the plot is really deep and solid, and that helps hugely to make this a more convincing and compelling film to watch, because, seeing as there is so much to find out about, you’re constantly engrossed in hope of learning something new.

Similar to Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, this is, in effect, a war film. The entire story revolves around warring tribes of the land, and as such features some great battle sequences. The difference between the two films, however, is that this has a much greater emphasis on the intensity of the battles, as if you were watching a live-action war film.

As a result, the battles are really exciting to watch, and maintain your interest in the story as a whole, always playing into the main plot beautifully.

The only issue with this film is that it does go on a bit too long. It’s not a slow-paced film, nor is it ever a boring film, but there are definitely periods that drag significantly more than others, and although you don’t lose interest, this film does lose its more exhilarating qualities in that, and that’s why I’ll give this a 7.9.

Princess Mononoke is a Japanese film about a prince who, during a voyage to cure himself of a monstrous curse, becomes involved in a titanic war between humans and forest gods over the future of the magical woodland, also meeting a girl living with wolves who he allies himself with.

This is a really engrossing and entertaining war film. It may drag a little bit throughout its two hour-plus duration, but it’s on the whole a great watch, with fascinating depth surrounding its mythology, beautiful animation and brilliant action.

As with all films by Studio Ghibli, the animation here is absolutely brilliant. Whilst it may not have the wonderment and awe of some of the lighter films such as My Neighbour Totoro, the quality of the animation really makes a lot of the more fantastical elements of this story all the more exciting to see.

The story is also brilliantly interesting. As I said, the mythology about all of the gods and demons in the plot is really deep and solid, and that helps hugely to make this a more convincing and compelling film to watch, because, seeing as there is so much to find out about, you’re constantly engrossed in hope of learning something new.

Similar to Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, this is, in effect, a war film. The entire story revolves around warring tribes of the land, and as such features some great battle sequences. The difference between the two films, however, is that this has a much greater emphasis on the intensity of the battles, as if you were watching a live-action war film.

As a result, the battles are really exciting to watch, and maintain your interest in the story as a whole, always playing into the main plot beautifully.

The only issue with this film is that it does go on a bit too long. It’s not a slow-paced film, nor is it ever a boring film, but there are definitely periods that drag significantly more than others, and although you don’t lose interest, this film does lose its more exhilarating qualities in that, and that’s why I’ll give this a 7.9.