Watch it for the castle!

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2006)

As soon as I saw the preview artwork for the titular castle, I knew I just had to see this film in the cinema rather than DVD. Personally, I think the castle ranks as one of cinema's most incredible visual creations - a lumbering, wheezing mechanical colossus that rumbles along the countryside. Characters in the film stop to stare when it passes, and you too will be taken in by its awkward majesty.
Like a lot of other people, I am a Miyazaki fan and I must agree this is not his best work. But when your body of work is as accomplished as his, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, I would still say Howl's Moving Castle was my favourite film that year.
I agree with those who say watch it in its original Japanese soundtrack. Yes, the American actors do their best, and it's not a bad cast, but there is something quintisentially Japanese about all of Miyazaki's films, and these subtle nuances are inevitably lost in translation. No fault of the English-speaking actors or Lasseter himself who supervised the dub, that's just the way it is.
So to calibrate your expectations - it's not as good as Spirited Away, but it does have that Miyazaki magic, and that's all the reason you really need to go see it.