Howl's Moving Castle
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Movie Reviews of Howl's Moving Castle
Movie Review: Witches, Wizards, Scarecrows and Steam
Summary: 5 Stars
If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, I don't really know anime but I know what I like. It took a while to grow on me, but I really like Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle." a curious colourful fantasy based on the book of the same name.
Sophie is a girl who works in a hat shop, in a world filled with steam-based technology, witches and wizards, caught up in a WWII-esque battle in the skies. Near closing time, she refuses to let in a rather plump snobby woman, not realizing that it is the Witch of the Waste. The witch puts a curse on poor Sophie, turning her into an old woman. Though a little shocked, the change isn't that devastating for Sophie, but her friends and housemates might not take it so well, so she hobbles off to the wild wastes, where she discovers Turnip Head, a scarecrow who points poor Sophie to a giant, steam powered, travelling castle, owned by the enigmatic Howl. He's a handsome, charismatic wizard, much talked about in the town, but he is a man full of secrets, a man embroiled in intrigue and conspiracy, a man who has a dark side of sorts, but whose heart truly is in the right place.
Like I've mentioned, this film took a while to grow on me, but grow on me it did. It was probably all the elements that at first glance look like they totally wouldn't work together (the age of steam, wizards, war, cute scarecrows, etc). Took a while for everything to click, I think that's the best way to describe it, it took a while to understand how everything works within this fictional world. It's one of those films that doesn't stop to explain what's what in great detail, and expects you to keep up. Once it clicks, though, it is a very fascinating place.
Hayao Miyazaki does a few things in "Howl's Moving Castle" that I thought were rather unique, like making a rather dramatic scene out of the simple task of climbing a flight of stairs. I liked the look of the fire demon Calcifer, how he licks and snakes around the objects he's burning but still seems solid and "there". I also liked the way that Howl's messy bathroom managed to look really bright and colorful and yet gritty at the same time. There's a lot to see and enjoy, and lot of characters as colorful as the scenery to love. The music is worth a mention too.
I haven't seen much of Hayao Miyazaki's work. I mean, I saw "Castle of Cagliostro" and thought that was pretty interesting, but that was a fair while ago. After seeing "Howl's Moving Castle" I think pretty soon I'll be getting my hands on "Spirited Away" and some of his other works on DVD.
The English dub was interesting, as there a couple of rather big names on it. Billy Crystal comically does the voice of fire demon Calcifer, while Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne in "Batman Begins") is the charming voice of Howl the wizard.
Recommended to lovers of anime and lovers of fantasy.
Movie Review: Miyazaki does it again...
Summary: 5 Stars
Spirited away was the first Miyazaki film I ever witnessed. It was amazing, and left me craving for more and more of Miyazaki's films. So, I rented 'Howl's Moving Castle'. I have but one word for you:
AMAZING.
Miyazaki has the gift of being able to create lovable characters that we can not only relate to, but can believe their story so much that their emotions start to blend with our own. We suddenly feel their pain, happyness, and love.
Howl's Moving Castle is a story of what it means to be beautiful not only on the outside, but on the inside. The message is as strong as it is in any of Miyazaki's films, but takes a strong mind to seed through the information and figure it out. Japanese films are like a brain teaser, with metaphors that take a strong mind. But when you realize that you've found a hidden meaning, and understand, the feeling is amazing.
The main character, Sophie, is a young girl working in a hat shop. She's not particularly attractive, contrary to the other pretty girls working in the shop, but then again, she's not repulsive. It's so real, because every young girl, at some time, feels this emotion-that they'll never be pretty enough, no matter what.
There's a HUGE war going on, with soldiers all over the streets. So, as Sophie is walking through the streets one day to meet someone, she starts to get teased by a couple of soldiers. All of the sudden, a man appears behind her, and with a flick of his finger, sends the soldiers away. He then leads Sophie into the sky, and together, they 'fly', which really looks like walking in the sky. Sophie immidiately knows that she was saved by the heart-stealing wizard, named Howl.
And because of the intense jelousy and magical powers of a triple-chinned witch, called 'The Witch of the Wastes', Sophie is turned into a wrinkly, grey-haired old woman. Immidiately, Sophie sends out to find Howl, so that she may break the curse. Sophie is taken into the 'castle', which really looks like a walking dump, and works as the cleaning lady.
As the story goes on, we find out that Howl is a narcisistic wizard, obsessed with his looks, and thinks he is nothing without them. Both Sophie and Howl learn an important lesson, and as their understanding grows, so does their love for each other.
This movie is truly, truly amazing. I have to admit, at the end of this movie, I was absolutely DROWNING in happy tears. This movie had possibly the best ending out of all Miyazaki's films, and it warms your heart to the point of tears. I reccomend this movie strongly. The voice acting is great, the music is great, (though nothing tops spirited away with this), the story is great, and the morals are great. There's really no words left other than that this movie is a jewel.
Movie Review: Another Fantastic Hayao Miyazaki Animated Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Hayao Miyazaki's 2004 animated film "Howl's Moving Castle" was another wonderful animated film that equals the quality of his past works that include films such as Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Not using as strong a Shinto theme as in "Princess Mononoke" or "Spirited Away", the story of "Howl's Moving Castle" is about a young woman named Sofie who works in a hat shop and is placed under a spell that makes her an old woman from the spiteful "Witch of the Waste". With war looming between Sofie's kingdom and a neighboring kingdom, Sofie leaves the city and wanders into the neighboring hills, which isn't easy for an old woman; but she meets a scarecrow who helps her find shelter. The shelter turns out to be a moving castle (a hovel) that is owned by the young wizard named Howl, whom Sofie had previously met. Walking into the castle, Sofie settles down in front of the fireplace and the fire, named Calcipher, begins to speak with her; but the exhausted Sofie falls asleep. The caslte's other resident, a boy named Markl, pretends to be an old man when around other people. Howl's castle doesn't just move on its own on a set of long legs, it also has a magical door that is a portal to several different locations simultaneously depending upon the setting. Sofie settles into the castle as a cleaning lady. Once war breaks out, the kingdom that Sofie & Howl live in attept to induct Howl into its army of other wizards to fight the neighboring kingdom in large, flying airships; but Howl wants no part of it and instead begins to fight the kingdom's forces to avoid being captured. Sofie, in the meantime, is in love with Howl; but will the spell that the Witch of the Waste put on her ever be broken? Will Sofie discover the connection between Calcifer and Howl? Will Howl be captured? Who is the scarecrow? You'll just have to watch this wonderful animated film to find out.
With brilliant animation, engaging characters and an amazing story, I rate Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "Howl's Moving Castle" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. Though some amazing actors (such as Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall and Christian Bale) provided their voices to the English version of the film, I prefer to watch the Japanese version with subtitles. The film was nominated in 2006 for a "Best Animated Film" Oscar, but the Oscar ultimately went to the 2005 animated film "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit".
Movie Review: Studio Ghibli may be to Japan what Dreamworks and Universal are to America...
Summary: 5 Stars
I can remember a long time ago seeing a preview for "Kiki's Delivery Service" on a Disney sing along video, unaware that it was a Japanese film made almost 10 years before in the year I was born by whom I now consider to be a legend, Hayao Miyazaki. It intrigued my 8 year old self, but I never got around to watching it. Then, about a month ago, on the recommendations of my already acquainted friends and having already having had some experience in watching anime, I started to watch some of the Studio Ghibli productions. They became like potato chips, I couldn't watch just one one time.
As of now, I have seen in this order Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Kiki's Delivery Service (finally!), Princess Mononoke, and Laputa Castle in the Sky
I have to say that Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite one right now, with Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away close behind. Part of that may be the fact that the character of Howl has captured my heart in a way that no other animated character has ever done before. You girls thought Aladdin was cute when you were kids? Uh-uh, Howl is someone worth crushing on, at least for me ;)
All that aside, the animation is much better than Disney has ever done, and Disney has done a lot. I think this is on par in terms of plot and animation with The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado, two of my favorite Dreamworks movies. In fact, Miyazaki-san has perhaps made me come to love animation in any country much more at 19 than at 9. I look at classics like Pinocchio and Sword in the Stone with new eyes.
As for the voice casting, I am quite pleased with who they have. I always like to hear larger name voices in a Japanese movie dub than the people who are only known for dubbing anime. Christian Bale's voiceover of Howl is one of the main reasons that I am fawning so much over him right now. That quiet, smooth voice of his makes me become giddy whenever he talks. Also, I did not realize that Jean Simmons, the woman who voiced the old Sophie, who was also very memorable, was the same person who was Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls over 50 years ago. It was one of those movies I had grown up with, so knowing that made me admire her even more. Also, Billy Crystal had managed to play a comedic fire demon, but he also had some more serious moments as well, such as when he was a blue flame in Sophie's hands about to be freed from the spell. This was definitely not a copy of Mike Wizowsky here.
All and all, this is an absolute must see for any lovers of anime, or animation in general. Miyazaki's other movies must be seen too. Do it!
Movie Review: Enjoyable and imaginative but has its problems
Summary: 5 Stars
Some studios or directors sometimes takes awhile before they perfect the formula. Knowing what works and what doesn't, they eventually will start to settle into that comfort zone where the films are really great, although they may not be as innovative. With Miyazaki you'll always find great animation and a really imaginative world but certain flaws that existed before still exist now. While it probably won't beat Totoro or Spirited Away as the better film, it's certainly an enjoyable film to watch.
Young Sophie works at a hat shop and feels like she isn't beautiful. She has a chance encounter with a likable man with some magical powers. Later on, she has an unfortunate meeting with the Witch of the Waste(wish I wasn't kidding about the name) which turns her into an old woman. Looking for a way to break the spell, she runs into a big castle with legs, run by a kid named Markl and a fire demon that runs the castle. The master of the place is the man she met earlier, a wizard named Howl. Will Sophie break the spell?
Like I said about certain things getting perfected, this film is probably some of the best animation that Studio Ghibli has done. The colors are so vivid, sharp and colorful and one scene involving a flower garden late in the film was quite striking. And unlike other releases, the CG never becomes obvious where you can easily tell where it took over. It's of course got the weird characters and neat concepts and what more would you want?
Well, maybe a better written plot? The premise is great, it's just the execution falls apart slightly. Certain elements are never explained and we seem to jump from one thing to the next. The other problem is what plagued other Miyazaki films: it's a bit too long. Now one of my favorite films is JFK, 3 hour 15 at least in the Director's Cut and I didn't even minded however Howl clocks in at a few minutes shy of 2 hours and it feels like certain things could've been chopped off(one weird subplot involving Howl's hair just seems completely out of place and unnecessary).
If you've had Miyazaki films before, you know how skimpy they are on extras(then again, what anime film isn't?) It's disappointing but at the same time the film does speak for itself but considering the guys at Pixar are huge Miyazaki fans, you would maybe thought they'd record a commentary on his film, making comments about the story and animation etc.
It's certainly a recommendable film but if this is your first, well go for Totoro or Spirited Away but if you're already a fan, must give this a go.