When one thinks of mutant monsters attacking (MMAs), it is doubtful that the first movie to come to mind (or possibly ever, really, unless one’s mind is as demented and strange as mine) would be Miyazaki’s masterpiece of animation, Princess Mononoke, but sure enough, almost the very first scene does indeed feature an MMA. (I questioned at first the use of that acronym for purposes of this review, because I realized that what is normally thought of as an MMA actually features two mutant monsters attacking [each other, at least]. Have you seen some of those fighters?!) That’s pretty much where any similarities between this movie and all of the fun, cheesy monster movies reviewed here this month end, however, for Princess Mononoke is quite the deep and thoughtful movie.

Princess Mononoke follows the story of Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup), the prince of a small tribe, who is cursed during the aforementioned opening MMA and forced to leave his village in search of the reason for the attack. The mutated attacker turns out to be a former Boar God who had turned into a demon due to the presence of a large iron bullet embedded within. To break the Boar God’s curse, Ashitaka and his faithful elk Yakul journey to a faraway forest where he encounters the conflict between a small iron mining town and the gods of the forest. The mining town is led by the powerful and ambitious Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), while the forest gods include the wolf god Moro (Gillian Anderson), her two cubs, and an adopted human daughter, San (Claire Danes), the titular Princess Mononoke (“Mononoke” in Japanese means an angry or vengeful spirit). Added to the mix is an army of samurai and peasants controlled by the local lord who wants to take over Lady Eboshi’s Irontown, yet needs/wants her help in clearing the forest -- Ashitaka realizes that his purpose is to “see with eyes unclouded by hate” and find a way for everyone to get along, while the curse on him threatens to kill both him and everyone around him.

What makes the movie stand out from others that similarly appear to boil down to a man vs. nature kind of plot is that things are not necessarily black and white. Take a movie like Avatar, or Disney’s Pocahontas (which I’m pretty sure are the same movie, just the former is in kick-ass 3D. But really, have you ever seen those two movies in the same room at the same time? I haven’t. Makes you think, doesn’t it?), where the theme is essentially how bad/evil the advance of human industrialized civilization is. It is not a bad theme, necessarily, but it is obvious who the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are. And while on the surface it may seem like Princess Mononoke is similar, it turns out that the movie presents additional layers of complexity. The animal gods have become solely bent on destroying the humans, giving in to hatred (which -- as we all know -- leads to the Dark Side), while Lady Eboshi is trying to provide a living for many people otherwise cast out of society, such as lepers and brothel-workers. Ashitaka is able to see how both sides are wrong, yet understands their motivations and the reasons why things have become what they have. The movie does an excellent job of presenting most-if-not-all sides, thus making it much more thought-provoking than a standard animated movie.

And it’s not a standard animated movie in other ways as well, as the movie is surprisingly violent and bloody in places, complete with multiple decapitations. Not gratuitously so, by any means, but it is quite unexpected the first time you see one of Ashitaka’s arrows rip the arms off of a samurai, or when you see San cleaning a bullet wound in one of the wolves by attempting to suck out blood surrounding the wound in order to get to the bullet itself. The movie is also not short, clocking in at more than 2 hours, and it is somewhat slower paced than other movies (particularly other animated movies). This is not a bad thing, in my opinion, but could be unexpected for someone assuming this is animation like most other.

Though the movie isn’t quite like other Miyazaki movies, either. For better or worse, it doesn’t have the same sense of whimsy that most Miyazaki movies have, and not as many cute little moments that usually are found within his movies. There is more effort toward telling the story and fleshing out the characters than there toward being whimsical and imaginative. The little forest sprites with the rattling heads are pretty cool, though (particularly where they ride the top of the trees during a windstorm -- it’s better than Six Flags!).

I should note also that although the movie was originally voiced in Japanese, the English dub isn’t bad. The voice actors do a good job, but the written dialogue is sometimes a tad awkward, as they tried to translate the Japanese into more conversational-type English that gets the message across but still takes about the time as it did in Japanese so that the dialogue correctly lines up with the animation. Watching in Japanese with subtitles is always an option, of course. But the English version doesn’t suck.

Bottom line, you should see this movie if for no other reason than it is a Miyazaki movie (my personal favorite of them, actually). If you’re looking for a fun and cheesy MMA movie, this isn’t the one, so watch one of the other movies reviewed right here to get that out of your system, and when you are ready for an excellent example of a thought-provoking animated cinema, come watch Princess Mononoke. And now I just need to find me some vorpal arrows, ‘cause those were sweet.

  -- K. Burtt

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