Howl's Moving Castle Anime Movie Review

A spoiler-free review of the popular Hayao Miyazaki film. I simply critique plot, characters, etc. A CHRISTIAN EVALUATION is included at the end for some viewers and as a parental guide.

Howl’s Moving Castle

 

A spoiler-free review of the popular Hayao Miyazaki anime movie

 

Title: Howl’s Moving Castle

Alternate Title: Hauru no Ugoku Shiro

Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Romance/Family/Comedy/Drama

Episodes: 1 (movie)

Running Time: Approx. 119 minutes

 

Synopsis: In a cozy little town in the peaceful countryside, Sophie spends her days working in her family’s hat shop. In the distant, misty hills, she can sometimes catch a glimpse of Howl’s castle walking among the fields. While her gorgeous sisters greatly fear the terrible man named Howl, Sophie has no loathing of him because it is rumored he only devours the hearts of pretty girls; she has nothing to fear, because she says she’s never been beautiful for a moment in her life.

            Sophie’s country and its neighbor are fighting a war over the disappearance of a prince, but that’s far away from where she is. She has nothing to worry about " the witches and wizards employed by the king will take care of it. After all, that’s what they’re there for, isn’t it?

            When a strange customer walks through the locked door of Sophie’s hat shop, however, it seems things will never be the same. Revealing herself as the dreaded Witch of the Waste, the customer magically passes through Sophie, thereby casting a spell upon her. When Sophie opens her eyes, she sees the hands of an old maid in the place where her youthful hands had been. Looking in a mirror, she learns the shocking truth " the Witch of the Waste has turned her into a 90 year old lady!

            Sophie knows that she cannot stay in town so, gathering up a few possessions, she ambles into the Wastes. It is here that she encounters Howl’s moving castle up close and personal. To escape the bitter cold she flees into the walking castle where she takes up a job as a cleaning lady. Little does she realize that the moment she set foot in Howl’s castle was the moment that she bound herself to discover the dreadful fate behind Howl’s true identity and the forbidden pact which fell from the sky.

 

Plot: Considering the fact that Howl’s Moving Castle is a Hayao Miyazaki film, you should expect quite a ride from the plot, and the film doesn’t disappoint your expectations. While Howl’s Moving Castle is originally a novel by Dianna Wynne Jones, Miyazaki-san has almost completely rewritten the story into something far more glorious than the original.

            The plot of the movie is not necessarily complex but rather thoroughly planned. The concepts are not difficult to grasp, yet the huge number of things that happen in the film show how much thought went into making it. The scriptwriting is also quite impressive in its foreshadowing and ambiguity.

            Numerous times throughout the plot, threads are delicately woven to help you guess the eventual ending. Most times these plot threads go completely unnoticed until you have watched the movie a few times. Few movies can boast so many thought-provoking elements that cause the viewer to find something new in the plot even after many watches!

            In conclusion, the plot of Howl’s Moving Castle shines up there with other famous films such as Spirited Away or classics such as Castle of Cagliostro. While nothing incredibly complex happens in the actual plotline, smaller “threads” (such as Sophie’s almost constant age change) provide almost mind-boggling mini-stories that are a lot of fun to try and solve. Very often, two people can come up with two different ways to decipher some of the plotline’s more subtle happenings.

 

Characters: Even those who do not enjoy the plotline of Howl’s Moving Castle will at least enjoy the characters " I know this from experience. Howl is mysterious yet personable enough that he attracts a lot of viewers’ attentions. Sophie is a very in-depth character, and we should expect no less from Miyazaki-san. Minor characters like Madam Suliman and the Witch of the Waste are all very lifelike and enjoyable, all for their different reasons.

            I also applaud Miyazaki for making characters who do not speak (Turnip-head and Heen) very fun. He gives them personalities without them ever needing to speak. In addition to these characters, Markl adds a nice touch to make the film more “family-oriented.”

            Most impressive of the entire cast of characters is, of course, Calcifer. What do you expect when his voice is dubbed by Billy Crystal? Calcifer is funny, whimsical, and a little bit powerful when he needs to be. His comedy drips with funny sarcasm, and he’s got quite a nice little story behind him too. The entire concept of his existence often fascinates viewers, and most have said that Calcifer is easily their favorite character.

 

Animation: Like all Miyazaki films, Howl’s Moving Castle has animation far exceeding that of normal anime. Very smooth, streamlined, and detail-oriented, the animation blasts with color and hue. Most notable in this category is Myazaki-san’s astute attention to detail. Simple things like walking are given great focus so that every thing that would move when the character walks does move. For example, when Sophie puts out a fire with a bucket of water, watch the bucket after she throws the water out, and I bet you’ll see the bucket still dripping even though it is not even a noticeable part of the scene. Little details like this make Hayao’s films stand out from their peers.

 

Music: The music of Howl’s Moving Castle is just as dramatic and flighty as the film itself. Some scores are quiet and pensive, while others are downright boisterous and loud. The music makes the viewer feel the world he’s in, and that is the end-all-be-all goal of music in moviemaking. Congratulations to Jo Hisaishi for composing a near-addicting set of scores for this film!

 

Ending: The ending of Howl’s Moving Castle, unlike the common trend in Myazaki films, is actually conclusive. I was happy with the way the film ended, and the directors even managed to add a new little facet to the world of Howl at the ending of the movie.

 

Recommendation: I would recommend this film to anyone! It’s a great film if you want to open your mind to a new and engaging world with beautiful animation.

 

Audience: I would not recommend this film for viewers under 10, or with parental guidance. Monsters do exist in this film, and while none appear too threatening, parents may need to be the judge of whether these monsters will scare their children. On the general scale, however, this film is definitely a family movie.

 

Final Score: 10 out of 10, for wonderfully deep characters, beautiful animation, an engaging plot, and lovely music. While not the most popular of Hayao’s films, Howl’s Moving Castle is truly a masterpiece.

 

For the Christian Audience: Obviously, if you don’t like the idea of fictional magic, stay away from this movie. However, the only real threat I see is the concept of Calcifer, who is a demon but is a character on the side of the “good guys.” I will simply say this " I encourage the Christian audience to remember where this movie came from. Demons are an integral part of Japanese culture. You must also remember that in Japan, demons can be good or evil. The word “demon” can be equated to the English word “spirit” or “ghost.” We’re not talking “fallen angel” demon here. He’s just a magical being fitting into the setting of Howl’s world. Therefore, I recommend taking Calcifer with a grain of salt and viewing him as a byproduct of a culture very different from our own. With that in mind, I give my decision. Conclusion: Safe!

 

 

Want to buy Howl’s Moving Castle? Click the links below. I’ve set up the links so that you’ll go to a new page to view the item, then you can click and go to the store to buy the item! Enjoy!

 

Click this link for the DVD: <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=wyvernwriter-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B000CDGVOE" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Click this link for the huge Hayao Miyazaki Movie Collection, which includes Howl's Moving Castle: <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=wyvernwriter-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001G5PPVC" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

 

Author's Note

Have you seen Howl's Moving Castle? Tell me about it! Did I do a good job reviewing it?

Reviews

[Rose of Gondor]

You did an AWESOME job!!! I couldn't have found a more thorough review. It was perfect! I'm Asian myself, and I love the last explanation of Calcifer for the Christian Audience!!! Exactly. You've said it. Although I'm not Japanese myself, demons, in our culture (the asian one) could be good OR bad. Hehe. I personally think the film is a great alteration of Diana Wynne Jones's novel. It makes the characters a LOT more agreeable.

Did you think the sap at the end was kind of cute? I did! :)