Princess Mononoke

After watching Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki is for me right up there with James Cameron as a directorial god. His spectacular and narrative masterpieces (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke) are amazing examples of the genius and imagination of a skilled filmmaker. Once again, the director relies on the love between a boy and a girl against a backdrop of horrific dangers, and once again he does not disappoint. Of the films mentioned above, I found Mononoke to be the most mature and darkest. In short, an indescribable experience that I will carry with me for a long time. (12/24/2010)

For me, the weakest epic of Hayao Miyazaki's magnificent filmography, yet still with the feeling of an epic work. The story grabs hold (after an unusually unremarkable start) as soon as San appears and, with a few exceptions, doesn't let go until the impressive and visually stunning conclusion. Those exceptions are the episodes set in Iron Town, which try to fit a somewhat clumsy humor into Princess Mononoke, which this time around feels like a fist in your eye. Everything else, however, is a fairytale in the most positive sense of the word. Whenever San and Ashitaka are in the same frame, but especially when Miyazaki unleashes ideas from that rich treasure trove of his imagination. Wolves, forest creatures, and even the Great Forest Spirit made me feel like I was watching poetry in film. (06/22/2006)

A hardcore fairy tale set in an imaginative world with a strong appeal to sensitive and conscientious behavior towards nature, which is very ambitious and broad in its many themes and (sub)plots (I honestly got a little lost at times). Miyazaki has really created an extremely diverse world here, which, though rendered (only) in animation, has absolutely full-blooded and morally quite contradictory heroes. [90%] (01/16/2022)

I actually have hardly anything to complain about; whether it's the amazing mythical story, the score, or the stunningly engaging visuals, which would be unimaginable in any other animated movie. The problem is simply that the plot, however brilliantly developed and imaginative, failed to effectively pull me in and make me sit still in front of the monitor for two hours. So all OK, I had fun and enjoyed an unconventional adventure movie, but I still like the top American cartoons much more. (08/03/2012)

I'm used to Miyazaki's work being tinged with "let's protect nature – sort trash – don’t burn forests", but this time it was too much. Again, no expense is spared when it comes to fantasy, I really liked the white creatures in the forest, the story was also interesting, the ending was kind of bittersweet (which I didn't mind at the time), yet for me this is one of the weakest films I've seen from Miyazaki so far. It just didn't touch me, not this time. His work has always left something in me, now not a peep. Still, it's a quality piece of work that's definitely worth seeing; me once. A weaker 4 stars. (02/18/2009)