Howl's Moving Castle

Miyazaki's films usually present an original world and an original story, it is not the usual squeezing of classic fairy tale motifs that everyone knows by heart. Howl's Moving Castle is a geyser of visual fantasy, a peculiar kind of fairy tale fantasy with a distinctly anti-war message. Excellent drawings, obviously inspired by classical Japanese manga, careful animation, and above all a colorful plot where the world of magic, demons, and wizards comes to life. The first half is reliably worth five stars, but in the last third, the script becomes unnecessarily overcomplicated, and the adventurous story turns into a romance that dangerously plays with kitsch at the end with the arrival of the rescued prince, happy smiles, and kisses. The wizard's castle, as a strange combination of a hut on chicken legs and an industrial complex, which seems to have come out of Terry Gilliam's creative workshop, remains most vividly in my memory. Overall impression: 80%. (01/05/2009)

It's been barely a few days since I complained while reviewing The Cassandra Crossing that it wasn't an ideal movie to watch with an elevated temperature. Howl’s Moving Castle is the exact opposite. It's hard to find a more ideal movie to spend time with during an illness. Overall, Miyazaki's imagination is a good one for delirious states of mind. One immediately understands him better. This is the most mature project to come out of the Ghibli studio so far (even though it’s an adaptation of a children's book). It lifts your mood, delights, surprises you with the untrodden plot paths it takes and, above all, completely disarms you with its ideas and originality. A genuine work of art, and not only in terms of the animation. Personally, I wonder if it is even possible to go further in the field of classic, hand-drawn animation. I sincerely doubt it. (04/07/2008)

The transition from a steampunk fairy tale to a philosophical adventure full of various metaphors was so smooth that I didn't even notice it and I was entertained from beginning to end, even though I was sometimes confused about what was going on, especially in the finale. I’m sure I’ve written several times already that Miyazaki's imagination is admirable, but I'll happily write it again. A beautiful film with a beautiful idea. (14/10/2023)

That was indeed a cinematic fairy tale for me, one that I won't forget. Hayao Miyazaki obviously has a surplus of imagination, because otherwise, he couldn't have created such a captivating world as in the anime Howl's Moving Castle. Even now I am still intoxicated by the visually imaginative film imbued with a romantic atmosphere and brimming with sympathetic characters. Calcifer, the demon trapped in the fireplace, is really great. The pleasant music and gentle, non-intrusive humor that the story possesses are certainly worth mentioning. (90%) (15/04/2021)

As with Miyazaki's other films, what captivated the most was the main idea around which the story unfolds. However, while Spirited Away added something extra to the wonderfully imaginative story, something that forced me to devour every image and watch every scene with joyful anticipation, Howl's Moving Castle, with its strange but literally unprecedented in animation concept and perfect sophistication, did not allow me to appreciate all its beauty with anything more than "my eyes and ears". But that doesn't change the fact that Miyazaki is probably the best animator of our time and that Howl's Moving Castle is a most beautiful and impressive film. (12/08/2012)