My journey to watch every Hayao Miyazaki film continues with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and man was I emotional about this one. The film is the story of Princess Nausicaä as she tries to save her village from both invading dictators and poisonous insects/forests. As with most Miyazaki films, there is a strong connection between man and nature, with the poison forest being the direct result of man. Spoiler Ahead. In the end, the village is almost destroyed, and Nausicaä is killed but brought back to life and everyone begins to grow new forests.
This film really angered me, and probably not for the reasons people may think. This film is great; as always the visuals are amazing, the female lead is a very strong character and the story is very well though out and sweet at times. The reason I am so angry are the secondary characters, mainly the people of Tolmekia and Pejite. These people are f*#king idiots (pardon my language). If it wasn't for them, nothing in this film would have happened, which would be fine. The Valley of the Wind was a peaceful place, albeit that there was a poison forest not to far away, but the princess had solved the problem and seeing how the people of the valley listened to her, they forest would probably eventually go away. But no. The queen of Tolmekia had to come along and f*#k it up for everyone. If the Tolmekian's just stayed where they were and minded their own business, the village, and countless number of people would have been saved. But she had to just try to destroy the forest which she did not understand anything about and ruin every one's lives. And don't think the people of Pejite are much better. Why send the Ohums through the valley, killing all the villagers in the process, just to kill all the Tolmekian soldiers? That seems extreme, just outright genocide to kill one army. Man.
Ok, I calmed down a little. Basically this film is really good. I like to think that Miyazaki films fall into 2 categories; the cute children films and the epic fantasy action films. This is definitely an epic fantasy, along the lines of Princess Mononoke. It is a good film, but you can see that it is early in Miyazaki's film career, with it being a little rough around the edges, which he has smoothed out with each film he directs.
Final Score: 8/10
Great Film Aspect: Makes you want to look away.
Recommendation: I recommend this film again if you like Miyazaki films, and anime films of this nature. Also if you really want to get angry at some people.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Spring Break Films
So, as my spring break comes to an end...and since I am lame and didn't to go Mexico or somewhere exotic and party until I couldn't see straight, I watched movies instead. Let us see what I watched. *1001 Film to See Before You Die
Unknown - Good Liam Neeson action thriller, like Taken. 8/10
The Goonies - Classic film. One of the best. HEYYYYY YOU GUYYSSSSS! 10/10
*Princess Mononoke - Already reviewed this. 8/10
Ponyo - A cute Miyazaki film. Not one of his best, but a cute little film. 7/10
*The Sting - Good con film. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are top notch. 8/10
*Big - Classic film. Tom Hanks is perfect in this film. Has kind of aged a bit, but some funny scenes make up for this. 7/10
Rango - Greatest animation I have ever seen. But, not the greatest animated movie. Story is kind of weak, kind of cliche western, but not so much that it is not a very enjoyble film. Johnny Depp is great, and Bill Nighy is always one of my favorite actors. 8/10
Kiki's Delivery Service - Another cute Miyazaki film, again not one of his best, but a cute little film. 7/10
So there you go, highest is The Goonies with a 10/10 as it should be because it is a great film. So for now, this is me signing off.
Unknown - Good Liam Neeson action thriller, like Taken. 8/10
The Goonies - Classic film. One of the best. HEYYYYY YOU GUYYSSSSS! 10/10
*Princess Mononoke - Already reviewed this. 8/10
Ponyo - A cute Miyazaki film. Not one of his best, but a cute little film. 7/10
*The Sting - Good con film. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are top notch. 8/10
*Big - Classic film. Tom Hanks is perfect in this film. Has kind of aged a bit, but some funny scenes make up for this. 7/10
Rango - Greatest animation I have ever seen. But, not the greatest animated movie. Story is kind of weak, kind of cliche western, but not so much that it is not a very enjoyble film. Johnny Depp is great, and Bill Nighy is always one of my favorite actors. 8/10
Kiki's Delivery Service - Another cute Miyazaki film, again not one of his best, but a cute little film. 7/10
So there you go, highest is The Goonies with a 10/10 as it should be because it is a great film. So for now, this is me signing off.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
1001 Movies You Must See Review "Princess Mononoke"
Hayao Miyazaki probably one of, if not the, best animation director that has ever graced film screens. With such visual epics as Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, Miyazaki has created some of the best mythical, story driven animated epics ever. That being said, here comes his 1997 epic Princess Mononoke. This is arguably his most epic (sorry I use the word epic so much, but it is the only word that fits) and large scale of all the films I have seen by him. Also in that sense, it is also very different. *Spoilers Ahead* The story follows Ashitaka, a young prince from a small village in the mountains somewhere in a mythical land. One day, a wild boar cursed with a demon attacks the village, but Ashitaka kills the beast. In the process however, he is also cursed, and is told that if he does not have the curse removed, he will die. This is thus that his journey begins; he must travel to find the forest spirit in order to remove the curse. Along the way he comes upon a city called Iron Town, which is run by an evil woman who is cutting down the forest to produce iron for sale. What follows is a story of war, hatred, love and environmentalism. In the end Ashitaka falls in love with a girl named San who was raised by a wolf guardian of the forest, and they bring peace to the world of both men and the forest.
On the surface, this film seems like one of those environmental, look at how evil man is movies, in the same frame as Avatar and FernGully. But this film is different from those. The main character is against the forest, or isn’t on the side of the evil humans and must be taught about the importance of the forest; he already knows and respects the forest. The environmental aspect is not shoved in your face, but it is also not subtly added to the story. The main plot is about the environment, but also about war and death. Ashitaka isn’t on either the side of humans or the forest; he just doesn’t want war and wants to relieve hatred from the land. In this sense he is a great character, he helps both sides of the fight tries to stop all the fighting. But, although his character is good, to me there didn’t seem to be any growth to the character. He starts out loving the forest and hating hatred, and he leaves the story the same way. In a discussion on the film Casablanca, the character of Laszlo was determined to be perfect in character and the only way his character could go is down, with no character improvement. Ashitaka is the same way; he is a perfect person and he cannot develop anymore. The only character that truly grows is San. She realizes that, though her relationship with Ashitaka, that not all humans are bad, and she begins to love and trust him. The characters Jigo and Lady Eboshi could also be said to have grown, they begin anew and decide to start again on a better path. But, I didn’t really believe their transformation. I could see them going back to their evil, disrespecting the environment and the forest spirit ways. Miyazaki creates some of the best female characters in any film, and San is a good example in this respect, with her growth as a character.
The animation in this film is amazing. The visual aesthetic of this film is brilliant, just like Miyazaki’s other film. The world he creates in this film is right up there with his other films. As I stated in my review of Black Swan, there are two things that make a great film in my mind; one that make you want to see more, and one that makes you want to turn away. This is number 2. Whenever a guardian is attacked by the demons, it made me want to look away and not watch. The creepy, worm like creatures freaked me out a little, and disgusted me in the same way, but I couldn’t not watch (double negative, sorry). And this concept does not only apply to visuals, I didn’t want to see a lot of the characters get hurt the way they did in this film. When a film can do that, make you connect with the characters and make you not want to watch them get hurt, they are doing something right. Also as a side note, there was a lot of blood in this film, a lot, more even then what was the most violent anime film I have ever seen, Akira. I mean, Ashitaka shoots at least 2 guy’s heads off with a bow and arrow. Crazy violence in this film.
Ok, on to some criticism. One of the problems I had with the film was I could not figure out what Ashitaka’s intentions were until the very end. It was hard to tell if he was on the human or the forest’s side of the fight. And while I realized at the end that he was on the side of peace, just the fact that it took me so long to figure it out, had me second guessing the whole film as I watched. Also, I did not like how Jigo and Lady Eboshi survived in the end. This might just be my American standards of film, but I prefer my villains to get what’s coming to them in the end. I’m not saying that this ending was bad; it’s good that they learned their lesson in the end, and I don’t think it would have improved with their deaths; it just didn’t sit right with me for some reason.
All and all, this is a great film from a great director. The visuals were very creative, the mythology had a lot of depth, and this is how you do an environmental movie. And some negative aspects took things away from the film in my mind; this was still a very enjoyable film in the end.
I am going to try a new rating system now, hopefully it is good.
Final Rating – 8/10
Great Film Aspect – Makes you want to look away
Recommendation – Watch this film if you like Miyazaki’s films, and if you want to watch a very enjoyable film. I recommend it.
So for now, this is me signing off.
On the surface, this film seems like one of those environmental, look at how evil man is movies, in the same frame as Avatar and FernGully. But this film is different from those. The main character is against the forest, or isn’t on the side of the evil humans and must be taught about the importance of the forest; he already knows and respects the forest. The environmental aspect is not shoved in your face, but it is also not subtly added to the story. The main plot is about the environment, but also about war and death. Ashitaka isn’t on either the side of humans or the forest; he just doesn’t want war and wants to relieve hatred from the land. In this sense he is a great character, he helps both sides of the fight tries to stop all the fighting. But, although his character is good, to me there didn’t seem to be any growth to the character. He starts out loving the forest and hating hatred, and he leaves the story the same way. In a discussion on the film Casablanca, the character of Laszlo was determined to be perfect in character and the only way his character could go is down, with no character improvement. Ashitaka is the same way; he is a perfect person and he cannot develop anymore. The only character that truly grows is San. She realizes that, though her relationship with Ashitaka, that not all humans are bad, and she begins to love and trust him. The characters Jigo and Lady Eboshi could also be said to have grown, they begin anew and decide to start again on a better path. But, I didn’t really believe their transformation. I could see them going back to their evil, disrespecting the environment and the forest spirit ways. Miyazaki creates some of the best female characters in any film, and San is a good example in this respect, with her growth as a character.
The animation in this film is amazing. The visual aesthetic of this film is brilliant, just like Miyazaki’s other film. The world he creates in this film is right up there with his other films. As I stated in my review of Black Swan, there are two things that make a great film in my mind; one that make you want to see more, and one that makes you want to turn away. This is number 2. Whenever a guardian is attacked by the demons, it made me want to look away and not watch. The creepy, worm like creatures freaked me out a little, and disgusted me in the same way, but I couldn’t not watch (double negative, sorry). And this concept does not only apply to visuals, I didn’t want to see a lot of the characters get hurt the way they did in this film. When a film can do that, make you connect with the characters and make you not want to watch them get hurt, they are doing something right. Also as a side note, there was a lot of blood in this film, a lot, more even then what was the most violent anime film I have ever seen, Akira. I mean, Ashitaka shoots at least 2 guy’s heads off with a bow and arrow. Crazy violence in this film.
Ok, on to some criticism. One of the problems I had with the film was I could not figure out what Ashitaka’s intentions were until the very end. It was hard to tell if he was on the human or the forest’s side of the fight. And while I realized at the end that he was on the side of peace, just the fact that it took me so long to figure it out, had me second guessing the whole film as I watched. Also, I did not like how Jigo and Lady Eboshi survived in the end. This might just be my American standards of film, but I prefer my villains to get what’s coming to them in the end. I’m not saying that this ending was bad; it’s good that they learned their lesson in the end, and I don’t think it would have improved with their deaths; it just didn’t sit right with me for some reason.
All and all, this is a great film from a great director. The visuals were very creative, the mythology had a lot of depth, and this is how you do an environmental movie. And some negative aspects took things away from the film in my mind; this was still a very enjoyable film in the end.
I am going to try a new rating system now, hopefully it is good.
Final Rating – 8/10
Great Film Aspect – Makes you want to look away
Recommendation – Watch this film if you like Miyazaki’s films, and if you want to watch a very enjoyable film. I recommend it.
So for now, this is me signing off.
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