Princess Mononoke

rewatched in imax for the 4k rerelease. the animation is fluid and masterfully executed; the landscapes and settings are all so vibrant and lush with color and detail; the characters are allegorical archetypes that nearly perfectly serve the fantasy theme by being representations of ideas that possesses just enough nuance to be interesting without serving purely as stand ins. the story feels alive with how often events are happening concurrently and as a result of each other. this whole thing takes place over the course of just, like, three days(?) and it's SO dense. ashitaka bounces from event to event in natural ways and because he's literally trying to keep everything from totally falling apart while multiple factions are at each other's throats. for all that's amazing about this movie, i did kinda feel a little bit hollow while rewatching it. although the pacing is good, it's not perfect. i think the third act is a beautiful culmination but it's slightly too long overall. and some of the character interactions lean slightly too melodramatic for my taste. maybe that's the point, idk. as for me feeling hollow, i think it's probably because the movie relies so heavily on it all being an allegory that no characters have a relatable motivation for me to feel particularly drawn to. edit: fuck it, even with some flaws, this is closer to a 5 than a 4.5 so i upgraded my score. on a more granular scale it's like a 4.8, and looking back at some other 4.5 and 4 rated movies, this is a clear step up.