Highly entertaining Miyazaki

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2005)

Howl's Moving Castle review:
NOTE: (The version I saw was the original Japanese version with English subtitles) Howl's Moving Castle, I can already, say is front runner for best animated feature of the year. Miyazaki has done it again. The magic is still here. So far I've yet to see a bad Miyazaki film, which just shows that he is one of the most creative and inventive animators of all time. His works inspire and enthrall us.
Not too long ago, he gave us his first big film, Castle in the Sky, a good film with wonderful animation. He followed up by the fun family film, My Neighbor Totoro, which was also good but not near as good as some seemed to think (ala Roger Ebert). He made other little hits here and there, but nothing compared to when he made his first big hit, Princess Mononoke, one of the best film's of '98. The animation was that much better than his previous films, and the story was a lot more involving than say "Totoro's". Following this, he created Spirited Away, a true masterpiece and definitely one of the bests films of 2002. A film that deservedly won best animated film at the Academy Awards. I think that Spirited Away may become a great classic someday in Anime history, as Snow White has done in Disney history. It had breathtaking visuals and an even more interesting (and totally bizarre) story than "Mononoke".
While "Spirited" and "Mononoke" may be hard to top, Howl's Moving Castle sure comes close. Its visuals are stunning, the characters are just as ever entertaining, (I especially loved the character Calucifer, who is an "evil" made entirely out of fire; or there's turnip head who's a scarecrow with magic that makes him alive) and the story this time while mostly fantasy, actually has a more realistic side plot: The war. This adds some interesting twists to the story, and really makes it that more original than any of his other films. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke may be impossible to beat, but Howl's Moving Castle can definitely stand on it's own.
Miyazaki's films seem to have constant trends, similar characters, and sometimes identical story elements. But that is not to say that all his films are exactly alike. It is just interesting to watch and observe and realize that Miyazaki has made a world of his own and these films inhabit that world. Every time we see a Miyazaki film, we are seeing the world through his eyes. And, oh is it a wonderful place.
You might notice a lot of characters that are alike in his films, especially his usage of young girls as main characters. And what would a Miyazaki film be without: strange, obscure oozing creatures, crazy old woman, and people who can transform into animals. And don't forget, what's a Miyazaki film without flying.
These are all themes of Miyazaki. This is his style, and it may perhaps be the new Disney. While American hand-drawn cartoons are dying out, and computer animated cartoons are becoming the new trend, it's still good to know that we have Miyazaki films to look forward to the good, old-fashioned way.