Artistic but too far in the shadows

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2009)

Visually strong and inventive, but with incompetent storytelling, Howl's Moving Castle is one of Hayao Miazaki's weaker entries in his otherwise impressive body of work. It is not nearly as heart warming as all his other films. This one is dark, moody, plodding, and contains too much badly scripted dialog. Therefore, I would have to say that Howl's Moving Castle is a disappointment.
Sophie is a harmless young girl, who is cursed by the Witch of Waste with an old woman's body. One day while wandering on her own, she finds a strange mechanical mansion sitting on a hill and when she goes inside, she meets the young magician Howl, who she befriends and ends up traveling with. Along for the ride are Turnip head (a living, but mute scarecrow) and the power ridden Witch of Waste. Sophie slowly learns of Howl's darkest secrets, and finds herself with growing affections for him, despite him trying to keep his distance. she discovers that the boy's soul is ill because he is missing his heart, and she seeks to find it.
Miazaki's creative genius is still strong, no argument there. The world he creates here feels like a combination of glamorous Victorian England and 'The Wizard of Oz', although the setting gets darker as the movie progresses. The story on the other hand is not well crafted. What is meant to be an elaborate story instead becomes complicated, dark and eventually dull. Howl's Moving Castle is neither adventurous nor romantic, and too far from the emotional grasp of the viewers. I don't recommend it.