A beautiful love story

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2005)

I know I'm going to get slammed by people who love the original book, which this movie is only very loosely based upon, but I have to say it. I like the improvised storyline of the movie that Hayao Miyazaki wrote compared to the original. Yes, the original is funny and upbeat whereas the movie is a little dark. But I don't care. To me, it's a beautiful love story with an anti-war message. I feel Miyazaki san is right to have Sophie as a not-so-pretty girl in the movie rather than somebody lovely like in the book. OK, it makes me feel good that at the end of the day, the kindness of Sophie ie the inner beauty, overcame superficial look. Howl's character in the movie is also more interesting and I thought the the producer made the right choice of having Takuya Kimura to provide the voice-over for Howl's character. It makes him really attractive and fascinating. Somebody wrote that that Howl's character might bring in the female audience like Haku character did in 'Spirited Away'. I must say that person could be right. I was in Kinokuniya a few weeks ago, looking at the Japanese books of Howl. There was this girl with her kid brother also looking at the same books and she commented to him that all her friends like Howl. I thought that was pretty funny considering that Howl is an animated character and not a real person. But Takuya Kimura really breathed life into Howl making him into a sort of devil-may-care, sometime brooding, sometime rascally, good looking wizard who is swoon-worthy, thanks to the animated artists.