First and possibly foremost the character development is great; I for the first time in a while saw impetus for the hero�s actions. And action there was with giant animal spirits, gun and blade fights and an omnipotent deity bringing his wrath down on earth killing all in its path.
The story involves our hero Ashitaka who is on a quest "to see with eyes unclouded by hate." There is a hell of a lot more to it than that but I don't want to spoil anything.
As I watched I kept thinking that surely they would bring the movie to climax but the surprises kept coming. The movie has great things like talking monkeys (and talking boars for that matter �bizarre"!). There are no true bad guys; more it is a matter of all falling prey to their human desire and greed, except for the true hero who never falters. This leaves the viewer reevaluating his opinion of the characters constantly making the film ever more stimulating.
There were voices from some very notable stars Gillian Anderson (giant two tailed wolf god), Billy Bob Thornton (short fat bald man that sometimes kicked a lot of ass), Minnie Driver (as Lady Eboshi), and Keith David (giant blind boar) to mention a few. Animation quality was great with none of the flubs of a lower budget anime. Heads and faces looked the same throughout the whole film.
When all the cards are thrown down I�d say that this is arguably the best fantasy anime I�ve ever seen with the high honor of making me want to see it over and over again. With all the honor and powers bestowed upon me I grant this film Four Dings, NO SHIT.
