| Princess Mononoke |
| I was flipping through the channels one day and I came across the end of this movie on HBO. It may have been the most bizarre thing I had ever seen up to that point. Here�s what happened: A guy dove into a pig that was made of worms. He swam in and tried to save a girl who was already in the pig. Then a wolf came up and they had some kind of fight where they just stared at each other. Then I think the guy was ejected from the pig into the water. While this was happening, a deer with a mask on was walking on water towards them. He looked at the pig. Then the pig�s eyes went bloodshot and the pig fell over. So did the wolf. Then a lady shot the deer. Then the deer started extending his neck like a mutant giraffe. Then the guy threw an axe or something at the lady�s gun. She shot again anyway and knocked the deer-giraffe�s head off. Someone picked up the head and started running. Then some weird babies started falling out of trees by the hundred. A big glob started spreading everywhere, I guess to look for the head. One guy said �give me the head back�. The other said something non-disagreeable or non-confrontational or something. Then the first guy said �don�t make me kill you�. They returned the head. Then the movie ended or something like that. I thought it was insane. Then I saw some of the cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett, Claire Daines, Gillian Anderson. Whuh? I thought. What in God�s name is this? This is Princess Mononoke, and it�s pretty damn good. The protagonist�s name is Asaki or Agashi or something like that, and he�s just a nice guy. This takes place, I think, in China in like the year 1200, plus or minus 800 years. At the time, the human race is warring with themselves, but they are also warring with the laws of nature by doing so. So the nature Gods are getting angry, and now the humans have to fight the nature Gods who appear in the form of giant animals. Akashi, our hero, is not on either side. He is a member of an ancient tribe that understands nature. He killed a demon, but was contaminated, so he had to leave and investigate why the demon was formed. All he wants is for the fighting to stop. And for his contaminated arm to stop seizuring and being evil and stuff. That�s the plot. The thing that is stunning in this movie, though, is some of the �camera views� and scenes depicted in this movie. A lot of detail is made to what is going on behind the main scene. Unlike in Aladdin, or other movies, there is tons of stuff happening that is not key to the plot. Some of the landscapes in this movie were almost breathtakingly beautiful. I seriously would like to have some of it on my wall. It made me wonder if the artists were looking at pictures or if they were making it up. Stunning visuals, interesting plot that draws you into their world, a bit of humor. This all adds up to an 8.5 |