A great animated film

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2010)

Howl's Moving Castle is another Miyazaki film and thus at least partially nostalgic and environmentally conscious in its nature. This film is actually less concerned with how we treat nature than how we treat ourselves. It's an antiwar film, showing the horrors that can happen when people fight senseless battles. The conflict with Sophie vacillating between youth and old age depending on her feelings toward Howl is a visual metaphor for one's state of mind. In the end, when she looks young but still has the silvered hair of old age, it represents a coming together of energy and wisdom.
Like most modern Ghibli output, it mixes hand drawn and computer animation in a very subtle way, and has that distinct look and feel of wonderment that makes them very naturally enjoyable. The environment is a little blander than some of Miyazaki's other work but the Castle itself and some of the characters are imaginative as ever. Sophie is another in a long line of young female protagonists in Miyazaki films and Howl is another in the line of supporting male counterparts. Their relationship doesn't have the normal twists and turns you might expect, but that's part of what makes it interesting. The supporting cast is a little more broadly drawn but does well to serve the needs of the story and some comic relief. It wasn't the best thing he's done but still quite above average.