Howl's Moving Castle
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Movie Reviews of Howl's Moving Castle
Movie Review: An unsuspected love story
Summary: 5 Stars
I read most of the reviews here and I wanted to give a different light to this movie that I don't think is emphasized enough. I'm assuming that you read the synopsis so I won't bore you with the plot of this movie. Basically want I think is the central theme of this movie is the love story between Sophie and Howl. I love that Sophie and Howl were able to love without prejudice and without restrictions. They saw in each other the strength to help each other overcome the curse that they were both under. In Sophie, Howl was able to see the courage that he lacked in himself and to face his fear of caring for someone and sticking with them. In Howl, Sophie was able to see someone who loved her for her even if she was turned into an old lady.
I think this movie focused more on the characters and their development than the plot of the movie which I know Miyazaki is very popular for. The plot to me did not matter in this movie b/c IT WAS about the characters! I understand that a lot of people didn't understand the plot or they thought the plot wasn't going anywhere but I honestly think that's the point. I also thought that Miyazaki created a useless "war" b/c most wars are fought over useless things anyway and are started over useless things, like the king's son being lost. I mean do you really need to bomb a whole country side or village b/c your son is missing? He didn't make "war" a central theme in the movie or made the "war" plot go anywhere b/c I think the whole point was that war shouldn't be the answer to finding everything or solving anything and that's why the war plot didn't go anywhere. Personally I liked that he didn't focused on war and more on the characters and how they came to love each other, become a family, and trust each other. It's about love and redemption and the power to look past the appearance of a person and into their heart. I have all of Miyazaki's films and this is still my all time favorite Miyazaki and I wish he would make more movies like this. I hope this shine a different light for viewers next time they watch the movie and think about the characters and not the plot.
Movie Review: Animated Wonderland
Summary: 5 Stars
The latest offering from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli (Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Tortoro) is a lush, enchanting animation wonderland. At almost two hours, it's a dazzling, spellbinding trip and a thoughtful flight of fancy.
The backgrounds are lavish, beautiful paintings with the characters done in computerized cel-like animation. This makes the characters stand out and is a bit jarring until one falls under the picture's spell. But it is far preferable to the other CGI technique in wide use of shadowing and graying out characters to lend depth and dimension, but losing the bright, lively color and look of cel animation. This latter technique is often used in transitions of cartoons to movies such as Jetsons: The Movie, the Felix the Cat movie, the Rugrats movie and the film of Curious George.
Another standout in this film is the English voice acting. Emily Mortimer plays the young Sophie to perfection. Christian Bale is calm and reassuring as the wizard Howl. Was he also Spike in Cowboy Bebop? Billy Crystal is comically understated as the Fire Demon, providing comedy relief as Eddie Murphy did (also well-played) as the dragon in Mulan.
These two disc sets are undeniably pricey, but if ever a film deserved this treatment it's this one. The extras include an interview with Pixar about Studio Ghibli and Miyasaki, and animation buffs will find it interesting to hear one studio talk about another. One of the previews on my disc was for Pixar's upcoming Cars, the principals of which resemble the Chevron cars which, interestingly were designed from a partnership between AArdman Animation in Britain (Wallace and Gromit) and Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon.
Like Kiki's Delivery Service, which it somewhat resembles, this is an all-family anime that expands the boundaries of the art form without sacrificing traditional strengths of character and story. Some parts may be too intense for younger children, but that's a call parents will have to make. It's certainly a film to grow into, and an unforgettable experience that holds up to repeated viewings.
Movie Review: You can't run away from life
Summary: 5 Stars
A world where witches may be wicked but they aren't the threat, and where situation can settle the most intense of differences. Where magic and a bombed-out war clash. That's the setting of Howl's Moving Castle in a nutshell; a town where a war is starting, with all the celebrations that are mistakenly attributed to such an event. In the midst of this is Sophie, an insecure girl who whiles away her days working in her father's hat shop. But life has no intention of letting her waste her life there. A quick visit from the Witch of the Waste leaves Sophie cursed in the form of an aged woman. She has no choice but to leave the town unseen and happens upon the moving, dangerously-unstably-constructed castle of the renowned but vain magician Howl. Adopting the role of his maid, Sophie becomes a permanent fixture in his household. With the help of her friends - including Howl's apprentice Markl and the silent but enthusiastic Scarecrow - Sophie sets out to find a way to break the curse on her. However, her quest takes a quite unexpected direction when she discovers more about Howl and just how he got the fire demon Calcifer to move the castle in the first place.
This is Myazaki's first film based on another writer's work since Kiki's Delivery Service and he stays faithful to the setting, which has a local charm that takes you back to 1880s Europe. The CG castle in the title is such a random structure, it's a wonder it doesn't collapse. Beautiful vistas are everywhere and the use of colour is high as is the trademark of the Ghibli films. The characters are also very entertaining, especially the fire demon Calcifer, whom only Sophie seems to be able to manipulate apart from Howl.
It may not be an original Myazaki concept, but in his hands the world of Howl and his moving castle is fascinating. Like Spirited Away, the story takes an unexpected but satisfactory turn for the audience and the resolve is never 'go from point A to point B'. It's deeper and more profound, and this difficult feat is well-presented to the audience. Howl's Moving Castle is a riot.
Movie Review: The film and the book
Summary: 5 Stars
For those of you who have been wondering, some of the main differences between the film and the book are the following:
1)The book fleshes out Sophie's family relations and the reasons why she may have been eager to take her opportunity to leave home (until I read the book I had wondered why she suddenly decided to head off into the Wastes)
2) Sophie's latent magical abilities--explored very interestingly in the book, but only just barely touched on in the movie.
3) The movie changes the character and motivations of the Witch. In this case, the movie actually succeeds in creating a more interesting and sympathetic character. I think Miyazaki dislikes good/bad dichotomies and struggles, in each movie to show that characters are all a mix of hero and villain.
4) The War. In the book there is only a vague mention of a coming war, but nothing active. In the movie, the war is much more prominent and central to the story. The movie takes several moments to express a negative view of war as "useless, idiotic, stupid...". Again, this is something Miyazaki likes to talk about in his movies--the pointlessness of violence and war and the importance of peace and domesticity.
5) Gadgets. The book doesn't spend a lot of time describing Howl's castle or other gadgets. And there are most certainly no airships. But Miyazaki likes to insert artistic-looking aircrafts and other Rube Goldbergian devices into his movies...and I can't really begrudge him that. They're a lot of fun, and provide interesting detail that is not out of place.
6) Old/Young Sophie--The book doesn't show transformations as Sophie's identity develops and grows. It's a neat visual effect though, and a good way to communicate a concept that would otherwise require a lot of clumsy narrative explication. What the book DOES suggest, very interestingly, is that Sophie is actually responsible for the old lady image herself--that she prefers being "in disguise."
All in all, I think this was a great film adaptation. Gorgeous.
Movie Review: The Magic of Miyazaki Captures Hearts Once Again...
Summary: 5 Stars
The latest film from Hayao Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle, creates another enchanting adventure filled with breathtaking settings, magical moments, and beloved characters.
As a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's Films, I have to say that this film is definitely on par with Spirited Away. I believe that Howl's Moving Castle is just as good (if not better) in some ways. Spirited Away is Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece (as anyone who could tell you), but for me that stands only because Spirited Away's plot was created solely by him and not based of a book already written.
In Howl's Moving Castle you are transported back to olden English Times, and a small hat shop where a plain, young girl named Sophie quietly works. She has told herself that as the oldest she should continue her father's work in the hat shop that was his pride and joy and has resigned herself to her fate. Until one day she journeys out of her shop to visit her sister and is rescued from a bunch of soldiers by a mysterious wizard named Howl who is rumored to steal the hearts of young, pretty girls. But after a heartwarming and magical walk through the air, Howl departs and Sophie can't figure out what to think of the encounter. After seeing that her sister is well, she dutifully returns to her shop and locks up for the night. Unfortunately the Witch of the Waste pays a visit and curses Sophie, transforming her into a 90 year old woman; and the new Sophie heads out on a new adventure.
The following magical, moving castle, a fire demon, an apprentice, a magic door, a war...and of course Howl will be changed forever. Throughout the movie, we seem to feel and relate so closely to Sophie and Howl, as their relationship is key in the movie. Sophie's love for Howl seems improbable in her new guise. But Miyazaki weaves and creates such feeling that Sophie's young spirit and love shine through and that's what makes Howl's Moving Castle a Classic that everyone should own.