Howl's Moving Castle - Miyazaki

World-Building: Awesome
Characterization: Awesome
Plot: Great - well-paced

Howl's Moving Castle is one of the main reasons why I love Miyazaki movies. It is a masterful work and it is excellent both visually and from a storytelling perspective. It has all the things that make a Miyazaki work awesome, a strong female lead, very imaginative and vivid visuals, and, of course, flying machines. In this case, it's not just flying machines; the story hinges on a machine-like magical house that walks around the countryside.

Howl's home, the moving castle in the title, is a colorful, bird-like thing that walks on two legs. It moves along, creaking and groaning like a machine, along the moors where it's seen by a young girl working in a hat shop. Everyone else finds the castle, and its owner, quite exciting, but Sophie doesn't seem to be as interested. Until, that is, she is thrown into this castle by a curse that the witch of the waste puts on her.

I won't say too much, but this story is excellently woven in the film. There is foreshadowing, there is excellent character development for both Sophie and Howl, there is magic, and there are strong themes and messages behind it. There is a strong anti-war message in this film as well as many thought-provoking messages about humanity and seeking acceptance, and choices.

Most of all, however, this story is just plain fun to watch.

I enjoyed it so much that I decided I should read the book on which it was based (written by Dianna Wynne Jones). The book was good, but not exactly the same as the film and, strangely enough, I found that I much prefer the film version. I usually, as you know, enjoy books more for the rich detail they offer, but in this case I feel like the book had less detail than the film and to me it felt a little drab compared to the awesome imagery I saw in the film. I guess this shouldn't be too surprising; it is a Miyazaki film after all.

There are a couple of things in the film that didn't work for me, of course. The main one is the memory/time-travel type sequence with Howl as a young boy and Calcifer and all that. It just felt a little too weird and didn't make perfect sense. I know that it wasn't supposed to, because we saw it through Sophie's eyes and it didn't really make much sense to her, but I just still didn't like that part as much.

This is a highly recommended film. It is one of the better Miyazaki films and you are sure to enjoy it if you're a lover of fantasy.