Mononoke Movie 3: Hebigami

**Mononoke the Movie: Chapter III – The Curse of the Serpent** 7 / 10 – Good The end of the Mononoke trilogy—a very good trilogy, but one that definitely suffers from being too formulaic. The biggest difference between the films is the themes they explore. The first tackles class conflict, the second explores gender inequality, and this one digs into the power system itself. Those themes are one of the work's strong points, but beyond that, each film is practically a carbon copy of the others. They go through the same situations at the same moments, with a very marked arc in each one that repeats endlessly. Again,they're good films, but it can drag you down a bit to finish one on such a high note and then start the next one only to begin all over again. Of the three, this one left me the most indifferent. I liked its story, but its moments felt a little weaker to me. The big final climax of action and unrestrained music seemed like the worst of the trilogy—it's crazy, explosive and psychedelic, but it lacked power. Despite all that, it's a great series, and a great film in particular. I highly recommend it. It just left me a little colder than the other two—especially the second one, which I thought was the best.