Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

26Jan07

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Netflix Synopsis: In this engaging anime based on a children’s fantasy novel, 18-year-old Sophie works in her late father’s hat shop in a humdrum town. But things get interesting when she’s transformed into an elderly woman by the evil Witch of the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall). Determined to reverse the spell, Sophie seeks the help of the wizard Howl, who has an amazing moving castle that’s fueled by a fire demon named Calcifer. Hayao Miyazaki directs.

Review: OK, I’m am NOT an anime fan. Therefore I am BIAS against the movie for what that’s worth. Please take that into consideration. That said, I tried to go into this movie with an open mind. I knew it had some anime aspects but it WAS a Disney production (likely the only reason I gave it a fair shot) so I thought perhaps there’d be some appeal for me.

Wow. Where do I begin?

With some trepidation, I had to admit that I liked this movie for about the first half hour. Then… well, then, it was a steady decline until the very end. Unanswered questions began to mount (what exactly was the curse Sophie was under and why did it sometimes seem to disappear while other times it was in full force? What curse was Howl under and what put him in that position? How did Calcifer come under his curse? Why did the “wicked witch of the waste” <- (not making that BS up) 1) come under her curse, 2) seem to be impervious to her curse at times and 3) befriend the troupe and 4) semi-betray the troupe at the end?).

Ultimately, that was the very worst of this movie. Unanswered question after answered question.

But I also didn’t like the animation style of this movie. Personally, I can’t stand the big eye and oddly deformed bodies so prevalent in anime. The animation seems crude to me.

I do have to admit that I did like this movie overall even if only for a little bit. I did give it 3 stars after all, so after these criticisms you might ask why.

Fair question.

I liked this movie because:

1. the main character, Howl, was interesting.

2. Calcifer, the fire demon, was superbly voiced and the most interesting character in the movie.

3. the underlining fairy tale was interesting if not a bit bizarre.

4. there was originality throughout the movie.

5. the voice overs were universally good.

But those things only go so far.

The Good:
Some interesting characters, voice overs were all above average, many original ideas.

The Bad:
I hate the deformed anime style of animation, no character development, ultimately unfulfilling, political overtones.

The Ugly:
Too many unanswered questions.

Rating:

Submitted by: Brian 1/26/07

Filed under: Reviews   |  Leave a Comment