A marvelous, charming world

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2007)

Miyazaki builds these wonderful little universes. Poetic, charming places that are at once familiar and exotic. HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE is a lovely bit of film that provides a great little escape.
Miyazaki is clearly a master storyteller, because it's only after viewing this film that I realized there isn't really much "story" here, and what there is has many inconsistencies and unexplained twists. The ending, in particular, seems to just "happen". But, frankly, the characters are so involving, and the movie is so beautifully drawn, that any story shortcomings are easy to overlook.
I know some are wary of the "Disneyfication" of films like this or SPIRITED AWAY. I think this is something of a labor of love, though, and is motivated less by greed than a sincere desire to bring these beautiful films to a wider audience. Certainly the talent isn't lacking in this English language translation, with great vocals from Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, and the incomparable Lauren Bacall. Billy Crystal is quite funny as Calcifer, the fire demon, too.
While I think I preferred SPIRITED AWAY on the whole, it's really just a few minor quibbles that lead me to this. HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE is a lovely place to visit for a couple of hours.