Regular viewers won't care that film students and professional critics think it not as good as Miyazaki's earlier work

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2009)

I caught this wonderfully animated family film when browsing Independent Film Channel (IFC) on cable TV in 2009. IFC claims all the films they shown are uncut. I had no preconceived ideas about the film, never heard of it before hand, and was not familiar with director Miyazaki or his previous work. So my review is based on how I felt about the movie, not how it stacks up against classics or film technique.
Although I am an elder adult and watched it alone, not with my grandchild, I found it engrossing and enjoyable. (Although it is as suitable for young viewers as "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty.")
The story, an anti-war fantasy or fairy tale, was original and unpredictable, which I like. The wizard Howl (who turns out to be the main male character of the film) says at one point something to the effect of "The problem with a war between rulers is that the bombs fall on the innocent civilians."
The villains turn out to be complex, not just pure evil, and sometimes not evil at all.
The scenery and costumes are done as a period piece, sort of Victorian era Europe. Even if just viewed as a series of still paintings with no story they would still be interesting to look at.
In keeping with the imaginative story, I think with some imagination they could have come up with a more romantic English title than "Howl's Moving Castle." The moving castle certainly is interesting and plays a huge role in the story, but I would have liked something that suggests a struggle between wizards, a struggle over love and hate, and a struggle over war and peace.