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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Princess Mononoke
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 93 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Animation
Written by:
Hayao Miyazaki
Neil Gaiman (English screenplay)
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 29, 1999
DVD: December 19, 2000
Running Time: 150 minutes, Color
Origin: Japan
Language(s): Japanese (dubbed in English)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for images of violence and gore
Starring Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jada Pinkett Smith
The mythological tale of a war between encroaching civilization and the beast gods of the forest. (Miramax)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Howl's Moving Castle Spirited Away
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
One of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Its breadth, profundity, and stunningly rendered vision make idealism seem renewed and breathtaking again.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr
Has the effect of making the average Disney film look like just another toy story.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Amore satisfying use of the medium would be difficult to imagine.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
A landmark feat of Japanese animation from the acknowledged master of the genre.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
A big movie for the ages, full to the brim with sympathy, imagination and sheer visual delight.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Marc Caro
Rarely does any film, animated or otherwise, immerse you in such a vivid landscape and engage your senses so strongly.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
The majestic pageant of images - no sylvan landscape has been this indelibly, dimensionally alive - is inextricably welded to the multifold spiritual / ecological questions about the future that Miyazaki is contemplating.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut 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.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A dazzling movie, gorgeous to look at, involving on both emotional and intellectual levels, and often thrilling.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated epic adventure.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The film's storytelling and heartfelt pantheism are both impressive.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Complex, superbly rendered, and wildly eccentric anime-even by Miyazaki's own standards.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
A film for the young at heart and those who still appreciate honor, valor, love, and the earth.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
In theme and technique, it pushes the boundaries of animation and opens up new and imaginative possibilities.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
More thoughtful and varied than the average Hollywood cartoon.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Its imagery is never less than breathtakingly beautiful, and is occasionally truly awesome
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
Much more mythic and risk-taking than the usual Hollywood product.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
It's Miyazaki's use of sound--and silence--that takes your breath away
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Andy Klein
While Mononoke is often gorgeous to look at and has a far more sophisticated story than most Japanese animated features, it still feels overlong and dramatically unengaging.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
A Zeitgeist potpourri, strung with late-20th-century fear and anxiety.
Read Full Review >Washington Post 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.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Wacky, vividly conceived but mundanely executed cartoon fantasy.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 93 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Asgar S gave it a5:
Maybe I was spoiled by the hype around the movie, but I failed to enjoy it and I still think it's not one of Miyazaki's best works. The best thing about the film is the fantastic music by Joe Hisaishi - 10 out of 10 for the score. The animation is beautiful as well, but not outstanding when compared to other works. The violence depicted (cutting of arms and the like) does not seem to serve any purpose but means that it's not suitable for children, which is sad, because they might enjoy it more. The story and the characters are bland. The storytelling is careless at best. Many plot lines are dropped and never readopted. One example of this is the hero's love interest who gives him a pendant as he is forced to leave. She is never mentioned again. Character's motives aren't explored and seldom a character reflects on his deeds. I often read that it's great that the film does not try to answer the question of which characters are good or evil, but this aggravates the problem. It's also the explanation why many of the character's decision seem so indiscriminate. The film's pacing doesn't help here, as it is so slow to leave much time for thinking about all the gaps in the story. In conclusion: A beautiful picture with promising topic and setting which is ruined by sub-par story-telling and characters.
Peter S gave it a10:
I don't have to say anything. Go watch it for yourself. You'll see what I mean.
Ryan G gave it a10:
This is one of the single most amazing animated movies ever created, if not the greatest movie ever created. Why it has a 76 on metacritic is BEYOND ME..some critics need to get over the awful bias that CARTOONS and ANIME are completely different.
Chris O gave it a10:
Amazing film, why the mediocre critic reviews? I'd put this up with and maybe beyond spirited away.
Bronwen D gave it a10:
I though this was an amazing movie. I've literally watched it tens of times and still love it. I've noticed that the people who don't like it/give it low scores are the ones who don't seem to understand Japanese culture and the whole idea of even the forest gods. Simply have an open mind when watching this movie; you'll find that it's quite good, and had lots of detail.
Michael W gave it a9:
An amazing film. The story and the characters just blew me away.
Chris M gave it a9:
Stupid american teens who pretend to be grown ups and reject this movie because it's animated are just idiotic!This is the most mature animation i have ever seen and the stupid youth doesn't have the education to realize this is a powerful film full of meseages not thrown at your face,calling the plot week just because they are used to stupid american teen movies with "clever" suspense or just because they are bored to read the subtitles!How can anyone call this incomprehensable?How can anyone reject it because it's an animation or because the animation has gotten old?What's your favorite movie anyway,Butterfly effect?
