Overwhelming and beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2005)

To me the movie was simply stunning. I have seen most of Miyazaki's movies and still enjoy this one as much as any of the others. Yes, I agree that quite a few of the ideas have been used before - but not in the same context. I disagree that the faceless ink-like servants are anything like 'Null-Face' from Chihiro, and the overall feel of the movie is very different.
The Ghibli trademark of beautiful landscapes is here in large amounts, some of them will make your eyes water with longing for being there, making the images of war even more gruesome.
Some parts of the movie may seem confusing to children and adults alike. It's a bit like a good poem: You might not understand it entirely, but it feels right. Leave daytime logic at the doorstep, this is a fantasy made from images of your childhood dreams and with the same surreal logic.
The war in 'Howl's Moving Castle' is largely unexplained. It is simply going on, killing and destroying. Had this been a Disney movie, we would have known the reason for it and probably even sympathized. Here it is only hinted at, which may seem confusing. But it is entirely on purpose: War IS meaningless, absurd, unnecessary, if you ask Miyazaki.
If you want straightforward action, good and evil easily distinguished and distilled into separate characters, skip this one. Skip any of Miyazaki's movies. Good and evil are present in all his characters. There is no villain to hate, apart from war and greed itself which always ruin people in Miyazaki's world. But oh, what a world that is.