July 7, 2009

Princess Mononoke

clackaclackaclack

Title: Mononoke-hime
Year: 1997 (Japan), 1999 (US)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: (English version) Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver; (Japanese version) Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distinctions: currently #128 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 134 minutes
Synopsis: a boy cursed by a demon gets caught up in a war between humans and gods
How I saw it: on video twice (rented on DVD), c. 2003 (English version) and yesterday (Japanese version)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for music) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

It's hard to say why I'm only giving it a 7. There isn't anything wrong with it that I can pin down (other than the music, which isn't really all that bad). It's a very entertaining, extremely well-made movie. But for whatever reason, I just don't feel the need to single it out as "great."  I would probably feel differently if I were more of an animation buff. Incidentally, I highly recommend seeing the Japanese version over the English.

No comments:

Post a Comment