A Great Japanese Anime

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2012)

Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animation director who wowed audiences worldwide with his award-winning film Spirited Away, brings another visually spectacular tale of imagination to the screen in this animated fantasy film entitled,Howl's Moving Castle.It was released in its original Japanese and in a dubbed English version with the voice cast that includes Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall, and Billy Crystal.It was written and directed by Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same title by Diana Wynne Jones.
Sophie is an 18-year-old girl who toils in the hat shop opened years ago by her late father. Often harassed by local boys, one day Sophie is unexpectedly befriended by Howl, a strange but flamboyant wizard whose large home can travel under its own power. However, the Witch of the Waste is displeased with Sophie and Howl's budding friendship, and turns the pretty young woman into an ugly and aged hag. Sophie takes shelter in Howl's castle, and attempts to find a way to reverse the witch's spell with the help of Calcifer, a subdued but powerful demon who exists in the form of fire, and Markl, who protects the four-way door which can instantly take visitors to other lands and dimensions.
Like a dream, Howl's Moving Castle carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance.Exquisitely illustrated by master animator Miyazaki, it will delight children with its fantastical story and touch the hearts and minds of older viewers as well.It overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features that offer as much magic.This is a stunning example of a pure, disorienting dream logic that cinema provides all too rarely.