uninspired and corny

Rating: 4/10 (13 April 2010)

I can't understand why so many reviews here are full of praise for that movie. Compared to spirited away, Howl is just weak. Spirited away was charming, subtle and full of great ideas. Howl recycles a lot of these ideas and adds nothing new. It is full of corny dialogs and has a very cheesy ending, which delivers the final blow to the movie.
The main character Howl is a run-of-the-mill anime figure with annoying gestures and facial expressions (funny detail: his hair is always wobbling around, which reminds me a bit of a hair shampoo commercial). Calcifer, the fire-demon, you could also find in a Disney production (which is not a compliment, in my opinion). The evil witch, who becomes a good witch later in the movie, would be nice, if we haven't seen the same "evil enemy becomes nice guy" thing in spirited away before.
The general artwork however, is good. The best thing is the moving castle itself, which is the most innovative idea you'll see in this movie. Howl is not a terrible movie, but it's below average - see it when you don't have anything better to do.