It's pretty, but I'm afraid I can't say much else for it...

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2011)

When I first saw Howl's Moving Castle, I wasn't sure what to expect. All I knew about the movie was that it was based on a good book and that it had been created by the maker of Spirited Away. Though I had never read the book, the movie seemed to be well liked, so I sat down and watched. Unfortunately, while the animation was very pretty, the nonsensical nature of the plot and lack of real character development really ruined things for me.
The story centers around Sophie, a young girl who is cursed by a which to live in the body of an old woman. Why did the which curse Sophie in particular? Your guess is as good as mine. The movie doesn't offer an explanation -and you'll have to get used to that in a hurry if you want to sit through the rest of the film. As an old woman, Sophie takes shelter in Howl's moving castle, where she meets the wizard Howl, his pet fire spirit calcifur, and his 7-year old (that's my guess anyway) assistant who's name I don't remember. Now at this point, I actually thought that things were shaping up to be an interesting movie. Here we had a magical castle inhabited by wizards and fire spirits, fantastic animation, and a couple of genuinely interesting characters. In particular, at this point I was really starting to empathize with Sophie, who seemed like a very realistic character. Unfortunately, it's all downhill from here. As the so called "plot" progressed, the only character development we receive concerning Howl is that he doesn't like war and that he likes to look pretty. As for the witch, she's evil. Bet you didn't see that one coming. But a couple of paper-thin characters aren't the only problem here. Unanswered questions upon unanswered questions plague the story. Why is there a war going on? Why does the witch want to find Howl? Speaking of the witch, developments with her later in the story will leave you scratching your head until you've got a bald spot. Add in some inexplicably magic rings which can apparently travel through time, flying men made of black goo which nobody seems to think are conspicuous and well, without giving away spoilers, all I can say is that the last quarter of the movie will probably not make any sense at all to you if you haven't read the book.
When I saw this movie, I was watching it with three friends. Two of them had read the book, and one (like me) hadn't. At the end of the film, both I and the friend who hadn't read the book were glad it was finally over with. The touching ending was lost on us simply because we had no idea what caused it. The other two friends didn't think the movie was that bad. I think that's just what it boils down to in the end. If you've read the book, you might enjoy this movie. If not don't hold your breath.