With almost everyone talking about Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, "Spirited Away", I thought I would watch the last Miyazaki film that was picked up by a US company and almost ruined in the process, "Princess Mononoke." While it was a beautiful movie, there were quite a few problems, and only a couple of them can be attributed to the original Japanese version.

Before I get to the movie itself, I should say that I have been a fan of Japanese anime since I was a child, watching the horrid dubs of "Voltron", "Speed Racer", and "Dragonball" (yes, "Dragonball" had a dub in the 80s, with changes like Goku's name was changed to Zero). Since then, I have found favorites in serieses like "X", "Hellsing", "Lupin The Third", and "Trigun."

Now, I was loaned a copy of "Mononoke" and told it was one of the greatest animated movies (Japanese or otherwise) ever made. By the rating of this review, you can see that I beg to differ.

The story is as such:

NOTE: Because the main characters name has a certain vulgar word in it when properly spelled (that vulgar word starting with an S and is another word for poo), and Epinions won't allow that, the main character will be hence forth known as Ashi-taka. That dash is not part of the name, but if Epinions thinks it is vulgar, we just have to bend over and take it like men.

Prince Ashi-taka (Billy Crudup) is infected with evil after taking down a demon in his villiage. He is then banished to find the Earth spirit and ask that the curse (which is what the infection is called from here on out) be lifted. Yes, the villiage banished their prince, never to see him again, even if he has the curse lifted.

The rest of the movie plays out like a two hour ad for the National Arbor Day Foundation or Greenpeace. Every few minutes, we are reminded how evil we humans are for destroying the forest and hunting the animals for food. This point couldn't have been more bluntly beaten into us with an aluminam baseball bat (I didn't want to kill another tree like an evil human to use a wooden bat in my analogy).

Whenever they aren't playing to our sympathies about the earth, they are giving us an after school special style look at hate. It seems that the curse on Ashi-taka is derived from hate. So, we now have save the trees and let's stop the hate. I guess I am just sick of message movies, with them being force fed to us in the theaters and TV.

The real problem with this movie is that Miramax opted to think about the dollar rather than the product and casted mainstream actors in the film. Now, with only two of them really working out (Jillian Anderson as the Moro, the wolf god and Billy Bob Thornton as lowlife Jigo), the rest of them seem to bring the movie down. At least they have anime vets Michael McShane and Keith David to keep the movie alive

The worst of the big name actors is Billy Crudup, who seemed to take lessons from the Lifetime School Of Acting. While delivering every line, he either is devoid of all possible emotions, or he sounds like he is about to cry like a three year-old with a skinned knee. It wouldn't have been so bad if that is how the character was meant to be, but Ashi-taka is the hero of the film. How the hell can you find anything to like about a guy how is either deadpan or overemotional?

I think that Crudup ruined the movie for me with a speech that was rotten anyway. To stop a huge fight between Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) and San (Claire Danes), Ashi-taka shows this group of people surrounding the fight (as well as the fighters involved) his cursed arm and speaks about how it was what hatred looks like, and how it grows inside of him and will lead to his death. From there, the movie seems to go right down hill, and this is when we are supposed to care the most in the movie.

God, at least Driver, Danes, and Jada Pinkett Smith were at least trying to fit in, and they did a good job, but not as good as they could have done.

The animation in this movie is top notch. Everything is beautiful, all the way down to the grass. If people were talking about the most gorgeous animated movie ever, I would most certainly have to agree. In fact, watching the movie muted might save it from the dull dialogue and allow you to bask in the film's beauty without any interuptions.

Now, besides the preachyness of the movie, the only other problem which Miramax didn't do that the movie is a little long. At two hours and 14 minutes, it is in desperate need of a trim. There are a lot of scenes that could have been shortened and might have helped the movie drastically.

But, even with it's flaws, I still have to recommend the movie because it was still beautiful. Pity that the original Japanes dialogue wasn't on the disc, that might have saved it.

Overall, loyal reader, if you really must buy this movie, then go right ahead and do so. But, I, personally, will not be putting down $20 for it. It was good, but it wasn't that good. It is almost "Star Wars: Episode Two", after you go home with it, you might wonder why you wasted the money on such a sub par movie. Best bet is to rent before making a purchase.

Trust me on this one. You'll thank me later.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older