such beautiful artistry

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2006)

Working in a fashionable hat shop, Sofie feels under-appreciated, yet she's to shy to change. Talk has been spread of sightings of Howl's moving castle. While walking down a back street, Sofie unexpectedly meets this mysterious Howl. People have known Howl as a vicious wizard that eats pretty girls hearts. Though the wizard Sofie meets is a confident, care wizard. That night, Sofie also meets the Witch of the Waste; a vain and selfish witch, places a curse upon Sofie, cursing her with the body of a ninety year old woman. Desperately to have the curse lifted, Sofie travels across the country. Meeting a strange scarecrow, Sofie soon finds herself upon Howl's moving castle. The legged castle is a rusted, decrepit place, which looks to fall to pieces in any given moment. Here she meets Calcifer, a fire demon who is also under a curse, and a young boy Markl, a training wizard.
With the success of Hayao Miyazaki's last film Spirited Away, it was a hard step for him to make a film to equal that wonderful film. While you shouldn't really just compare Howl's Moving Castle just against Spirited Away; though it doesn't come to it, Howl's Moving Castle is one of the weaker films from Hayao Miyazaki. Based upon the book by Diana Wynne Jones, the story of Howl's Moving Castle seems inconsistent, jumping around to much, making an uneven flow. When an important piece of information is told, the scene jumps somewhere else. The story starts very clear, yet during the later half of the film the story seems muddled and abit chaotic from the strangeness that Miyazaki presents.
Though the story of Howl's Moving Castle does hinder the film somewhat, it's the artistry that really creates this film. Much like many of Miyazaki's film, the world he is presenting to us is so out of this world; inhabited by some outlandish characters, wizards and demons. What so impressive about the animation is the handcrafted style, where animations are so heavily made with computer animation. The warmth just emanates from the screen, and you can see so much sweat and blood went into the vibrant detail.
While Howl's Moving Castle isn't one of the better films from Hayao Miyazaki, it's still a very impressive film all the same. You can't help but be drawn into this beautiful world.