Reviewed by: Becca & Jeff

Spoken Languages: Japanese, English

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Published by: Miramax

The march of technology, embodied in the dark iron forges of the ambitious Tatara clan, threatens the natural forces explicit in the benevolent Great God of the Forest and the wide-eyed, spectral spirits he protects. When Ashitaka, a young warrior from a remote, and endangered, village clan, kills a ravenous, boar-like monster, he discovers the beast is in fact an infectious "demon god," transformed by human anger.

Inflicted with its deadly curse, a young warrior sets out to the forests of the west in search of the cure that will save his life. Once there, he becomes inextricably entangled in a bitter battle that matches Lady Eboshi and a proud clan of humans against the forest?s animal gods? who are led by the brave Princess Mononoke, a young woman raised by wolves!

Well this is one I am sure Jeff and I will disagree on. Though the idea of the movie seems very good, how it actually played out didn't. The love between Ashitaka and Mononoke is so forced, that I spent the majority of the movie asking myself how they heck did they fell in love? And don't get me started on Eboshi, I didn't care for at all, and the way she thought didn't have any real reason to it.

The rest of the story seemed to fit well together, and that's probably why I will give it a nice rating. The end of the movie left me feeling rather empty and unsure as to what happen the entire movie. Maybe, I will watch it again and rewrite this review someday when I have a better understanding.

This movie was the first anime I ever saw, and was really the reason I got into anime at all. I liked this storyline, it had a very strong man vs. nature theme to it, and how the battle won is never really won. Ashitaka was a character I really liked, they set him up as a man who really had nothing to live for very well. He was searching for answers, and got into a whole mess of problems, but it really brings up topics of fate, and what we are meant to do.

I could see why this movie was one of the first released in the US on such a grand scale. It had everything an epic movie should have, and was completely crowd pleasing. No one can resist cheering on Ashitaka and Monoke at the end. The ending was a bit corny, but the movie as a whole is good. If you haven't watched any anime, and are curious about it, this is definately something you should see to wet your whistle a little bit.

If you like movies that mess with your mind, and make you question your sanity after you watch it, pick this one up.