Last one?

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2006)

This is another of Mayao Miazaki's masterpieces. The story is solid, the characters are interesting & unique, the animation is breathtaking. The story arc of Sophie's journey is fairly straightforward. Howl's adventures, however, are much more complicated & leave much to the imagination. The war he fights is never explained. I have read articles saying that villains in Miazaki's movies are never really all bad. The witch of the waste in this movie was used as an example. I somewhat disagree. While the witch was indeed on the darker side of the moral spectrum, she was not the true villain. The king character, whose motives are never clarified in the dub, seems to be bad with no redeeming qualities. So there goes that theory. I've heard a rumor that this will be Miazaki's last film. It does contain references to his other films throughout, such as the black ooze characters, which strongly resemble Noh Face from Spirited Away. It would be appropriate for him to pay homage to his earlier works if he is indeed no longer going to make films. It also creates a very sad blanket over the film.