Done mostly in the style of hand-painted classic animation, with occasional digital assists, "Princess Mononoke is indeed a thing of beauty and imagination.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 7, 2014

This handsome, beautifully designed Japanese animated film has the size -- though not the clarity -- of a great Japanese film epic.

Full Review | Nov 27, 2013

Miyazaki's hordes of animators haven't penetrated beyond the skin; the moving creatures feel inarticulate and jerky, almost weightless, particularly when played against painterly background mattes.

| Nov 27, 2013

With a Luminist's attention to light, water, shadow and smoke, Miyazaki creates an epochal story born of history, myth and Shinto animism.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 27, 2013

This imaginative and intriguing Anime deserves all the plaudits heaped upon it.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 27, 2013

Beautifully constructed and painstakingly written, this is about as close to a perfect animated epic as you're likely to get.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 27, 2013

Anyone who relishes seeing the reach and scope of the genre redefined should not miss this marvelously accomplished picture.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 27, 2013

You'll see why, in animation circles, Miyazaki himself is considered one of the gods.

| Nov 27, 2013

Watching this film is often like observing a group of people playing an elaborate game for which you don't know the rules. What they're doing obviously has enormous meaning for them, but that meaning is mostly lost on outsiders.

| Nov 27, 2013

Some of the images in Princess Mononoke are not just unforgettable, they're almost edible in their vibrantly colored beauty. I haven't taken in animation quite so hungrily since I was a kid watching Disney features for the first few times.

| Nov 27, 2013

Hayao Miyazaki is a great animator, and his Princess Mononoke is a great film.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 27, 2013

Highlighted by a sparkling, translucent Forest Spirit that only emerges at night, tiny skeletal creatures with clicking swivel-heads, and a truly magical denouement, Princess Mononoke is still a formidable achievement, if not a resounding success.

| Nov 27, 2013

Even when animals speak, lip sync is avoided; they seem to be communicating almost telepathically, and one seldom feels that they're contradicting their animal natures.

| Sep 2, 2008

Hayao Miyazaki's exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated epic adventure has been adapted into English with tact and talent...

Full Review | Jun 17, 2008

It's just right for the 9-year-old looking to while away a long afternoon in escapist storytelling.

| Mar 7, 2008

Superbly imagined and visually sumptuous, it's let down only by Hisaishi's sub-Miklos Rosza score.

| Jun 24, 2006

The entire undertaking is presented as if we're being taught a very complex lesson in enchantment and earthly conservation, and people who lean toward Japanimation will convince themselves they're watching something visionary. But it's just a cartoon.

| Jun 5, 2002

The imagery, ranging from sublime mountain-smashing power to firefly delicacy (individual waterdrops splashing on a rock) is exuberant and intoxicating.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 19, 2002

The story has simplicity and force, with captivating images and gutsy narrative ideas recalling Kipling, Ovid and Homer.

| Oct 30, 2001

But the film is, on the whole, a full, meaty treat, striking not only in its subject-matter and the approach to it, but also in its pin-sharp detailing of nature and the speed and grace with which the characters move.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 22, 2001