88
Rarely does any film, animated or otherwise, immerse you in such a vivid landscape and engage your senses so strongly.
Princess Mononoke(もののけ姫)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 1997
Rated PG-13 · 2h 14m
Director Hayao Miyazaki
Starring Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi
Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
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While protecting his village from a rampaging boar-god, the young prince Ashitaka becomes afflicted with a deadly curse. He journeys deep into sacred depths of the Great Forest Spirit's realm, searching for a cure, where he meets San, a girl raised by wolves. Caught in the middle of a battle between humans and the forest dwellers, he must figure out a way to stop them from destroying each other.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
90
A big movie for the ages, full to the brim with sympathy, imagination and sheer visual delight.
75
A must-see for animation fans.
85
TNT RoughCut by Christopher Brandon
Like a lot of anime, it's overlong and gets way too metaphysical at the end, but ultimately, this is a Princess worth worshipping.
70
It's Miyazaki's use of sound--and silence--that takes your breath away
100
Its breadth, profundity, and stunningly rendered vision make idealism seem renewed and breathtaking again.
80
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
The film's storytelling and heartfelt pantheism are both impressive.
100
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
One of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.
50
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
As spectacular as it is dense and as dense as it is colorful and as colorful as it is meaningless and as meaningless as it is long.
80
Exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated epic adventure.
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Breathtakingly beautiful visuals paired with a complex narrative that both breaks my heart and makes me think deeply about the world around me. I love that this offers no easy answers at the end.