I haven't seen too many of Miyazaki's movies (besides Spirited Away and Totoro), but this sure beats any Disney productions.

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2006)

I haven't seen too many of Miyazaki's movies (besides Spirited Away and Totoro), but this sure beats any Disney productions. The movie was thoroughly enjoyable, though it employs too many tricks from the director's previous works. For those who have seen Spirited Away, I find too many similarities between it & Howl's Moving Castle. I can't remember the name of the dragon wizard in Spirited Away but I feel that Howl is like an adult version of the dragon wizard. For instance, both are "trapped" by some form of evil forces and risk turning into demons. the whole plot was also a tad too confusing. I had to watch it twice to grasp the full meaning. (and even after that, I'm not sure I really do understand it). I therefore won't recommend it to young viewers. One wonderful surprise after i finished watching the movie was that the charming Japanese actor Takuya Kimura was actually the voice for Howl. And I so regret not paying enough attention to Howl's voice. That's one reason why you should always watch the original version of the movie.