This was another Miyazaki movie I enjoyed, albeit a little sad. Okay, it was very sad. But Miyazaki's imagination is boundless, I have to say. There's the little clicky woodland creatures that bring luck, the nasty demons, the ape tribe that slink around in the dark and try to plant trees, and the amazing forest spirit that holds it all together - it's just magical. The sad part is that beautiful creatures have to die, but there is rebirth in the end and a peace hard won.
Characters voiced by Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson (X-Files), Jada Pinkett Smith, and randomly Billy Bob Thornton who plays a chubby Asian dude. This is not exactly a kid's movie because there's limbs being torn off, brothel ladies running around, and very heavy, dark themes playing out. Also lots of death, more than any other Miyazaki film I've seen. But don't be dissuaded, this movie is worth watching for the magical creatures and wonderful expanses that he's painted.
His movie echoes the recent feelings of loss for our own world's forests and ecosystems that are today being destroyed to reap the monetary benefits, as his "iron-town" rips up the mountainside for precious ores. He also shows us that some people have good and bad in them, and that everyone deserves to be saved, no matter how much you want them to die (*cough* Lady Eboshi). Definitely worth a watch :)
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