- Demon-possessed boars crash through the forest, killing all in their path. Ferocious wolf gods are led by a feral young girl to wage war against humans whose towns encroach upon the forests. A powerful spirit wanders through the woods as an elk by day and a giant lumbering walker by night. Translucent sprites with strangely rattling heads lead travelers through their woodland realm. This is the magical setting of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.
- The story follows a young boy named Ashitaka (Billy Crudup), who bravely defeats a raging boar demon only to be cursed for his efforts. After being exiled from his village, Ashitaka comes across the feral girl named San (Claire Danes), who is in the midst of sucking blood from the wound of a wolf that raised her. He also intersects the mysterious Jigo (Billy Bob Thornton), who informs him that the spirit of the forest may be able to remove his curse. At a recommendation from Jigo, Ashitaka visits the industrial Irontown only to witness San's attack on the city's leader, the bold Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver). As it happens, Lady Eboshi's attempts to eradicate the animals have been turning them into rage-filled demons, and San understandably seeks revenge. Now Ashitaka must find a way to end the fighting between the animals and the humans before the curse kills him or their conflict, in conjunction with Jigo's odd mission, tears the world apart.
- Princess Mononoke is in many respects a disappointment because it has a number of great qualities without itself being great. The lead characters, for example, are quite interesting and well-motivated. The film's settings and animals, particularly Ashitaka's companion elk, are absolutely gorgeous. A few scenes, such as Ashitaka's journey through the sprite-haunted forest, succeed precisely because they allow these great characters and settings to work their magic without unnecessary verbal exposition. Most of the other scenes, however, get buried beneath the film's unwieldy plot and dull dialogue. The film's environmental message, for instance, is so over-emphasized in words that one greatly misses Miyazaki's usual subtlety in inserting litter into nature scenes. By the time it reaches its completely bizarre climax involving the unexpected ramifications of decapitating a god, Princess Mononoke has become little more than a series of beautiful scenes attempting to cover for a middling film.
- Released in Japan in 1997, but in the US in 1999.
- I almost forgot to mention Keith David and Gillian Anderson as the voices of the boar and wolf gods. Also, Jada Pinkett Smith was an Irontown brothel worker.
