A lovely film for new and old fans

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2006)

"Howl's moving castle" is indeed a loose adaption of the novel by Dianna Wyn Jones. I've seen pretty much most of Miyazaki's more famous and also less known works, compared to Spirited Away, this movie does lack something, probably the charm and soul, I'm not quite sure. None the less, it is a lovely film.
Each character is well voiced and well personified through the animation, such as Howl himself whose vain nature and cowardly reputation cover a more charming, more darker persona that is unveiled by Sophie. When the curse is placed on Sophie, I found she was a more likable character, as the older version had a much richer sense of humour and lovable attitude. Calcifer is definitely a show stealer, as Billy Crystal's voice is much suited for the fire demon, he is much of the humour that can be found in this film, along with Turniphead who still stands as my favourite character in the whole film.
The story does flow nicely, but the dub may have lost some of the general plot as it can be all over the place at times, and reading the novel doesn't always fill in the blank spaces. That is most likely where the film falls due to such a long winding confusing plot, but nevertheless!
Howl's Moving Castle is worth the watch, just because of the charm it has.