Beautiful and touching!

Rating: 9/10 (30 September 2005)

Howl's Moving Castle is quite possibly one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in years. It's simply gorgeous, and I came out of the movie theatre in the most amazing mood.
I only discovered Hayao Miyazaki a couple of years ago, and so this was my first chance to view one of his movies at the cinema. I have copies of Spirited Away, Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke, and so walked into Howl's Moving Castle with very high expectations. I was not disappointed. The animation is rich and lush, with the characters delightful to watch. The voice acting was also a pleasant surprise. Whilst I am a fan of watching anime films in Japanese with the English subtitles, the theatre showing Howl's Moving Castle was only showing it dubbed. I was slightly worried about this, but should not have. Billy Crystal, and Christian Bale in particular,were fantastic. Lauren Bacall's voice and tone perfectly embodied her character's spirit. It is one of the few movies that I have not winced through because of poor voice acting. Howl's Moving Castle is a sensory delight and although many critics have suggested it is not on par with Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, I would have to disagree. I believe it to be right up there.
A most thoroughly enjoyable and amazing movie, for all fans of majestic films.