Howl's Moving Castle

Buy This Item Howl's Moving Castle by Walt Disney Home Entertainment  Available from Amazon  $21.49  on 8-28-2008     Like a dream, <i>Howl's Moving Castle</i> carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance. With domestic box office receipts of over $210 million, <i>Howl</i> passed Miyazaki's <i>Princess Mononoke</i> to become the #3 film in Japanese history, behind his <i>Spirited Away</i> and James Cameron's <i>Titanic</i>. Based on a juvenile novel by Diana Wynne Jones, <i>Howl's Moving Castle</i> marks the first time Miyazaki has adapted another writer's work since <i>Kiki's Delivery Service</i> (1989). Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of <i>Spirited Away</i>, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. Using CG, Miyazaki creates a ramshackle structure that looks like it might disintegrate at any moment. Sophie's honesty and determination win her some valuable new friends: Markl, Howl's young apprentice; a jaunty scarecrow; Calcifer, a temperamental fire demon; and Heen, a hilarious, wheezing dog. She wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end an unnecessary and destructive war. The film overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features--animated or live action--offer as much magic as <i>Howl's Moving Castle</i>. <i>--Charles Solomon</i> <p> <span class="h1"><strong>The Many Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki</strong></span> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JLEU.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0"> The works of Miyazaki</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/006441034X.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0"> The Book</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1421500493.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0"> <i>The Art of Howls' Moving Castle</i> (book)</td> </tr> </table> </p> <p> <span class="h1"><strong>Stills from <I>Howl's Moving Castle</I> (click for larger image)</strong></span> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" cellspacing="4"><p> <p> <tr align="center" valign="top"> <td> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-Castle2-small.jpg"> </td><p> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-Grandma-small.jpg"> </td><p> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-HowlSophie-small.jpg"> </td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="top"> <td> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-Young_Sophie-small.jpg"> </td><p> <td><img border="0" src=" http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-YoungHowl-small.jpg "> </td><p> <td><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/howl-YoungSophie-small.jpg"> </td> </tr> </table> <p> Reader Reviews Having seen most of Miyazaki's magnificent films, I was really looking forward to seeing this film. Judging by the trailers, this latest creation from the ingenious mind of one of Japan's most talented and legendary film makers of all time it looked to be another smashing success. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as awe inspiring as any of his previous gems. The movie starts out very promising and continues in the traditional vein of Miyazaki taking his audience on a magical journey to an imaginary world where anything is possible. It almost goes without saying that the artwork is incredible, as always, and the level of detail and passion for the images displayed on screen goes unquestioned. However, the story falls almost completely apart with little to no continuity accompanied by giant, gaping plot holes that leave one wondering what in the wonderful world of Miyazaki is going on here? The story actually flows pretty smoothly with a few minor glitches up until the last half hour at which point it essentially falls apart. Apparently by reading the book the film is based on one would have a better idea of why things occur as they do and would shed some background on what exactly is going on with the two warring factions, Sophie, Howl and the Wicked Witch of the Waste's curses. Movie audiences should not be required to know the full background though in order to enjoy a film, so in that regard Miyazaki disappoints because he leaves WAY too much to the imagination, so much so that it is to the point where the audience would have to write a few chapters just to fill the story gaps. No amount of beautiful animation can compensate for shoddy story telling, not even Miyazaki. Quite frankly there is not enough exposition to provide an adequate framework for understanding what is going on with Sophie, and some major inconsistencies such as why her age seems to fluctuate between old and young over the latter half of the film, even though the curse is only supposed to make her old until the spell cast on her is broken. The audience is given a rather vague idea of what Howl's involvement with the two warring kingdoms is, what he does in his spare time and why the things that happen to him occur as they do. There is an intriguing part of the story involving Madam Suliman who is the royal arch sorceress and how she was the master of Howl at one point, but this story arch is highly underdeveloped and despite the high flying premise of the idea it never really takes off. She also has something to do with the Wicked Witch of the Waste, but that's never fleshed out either. Hence, the audience is left hanging and wondering how these thematic elements all tie together. I did notice one major problem with the film besides the aforementioned incongruities which is that many major concepts are copied directly from Miyazaki's previous films, including script and art elements. The giant black, slimy blobs from 'Spirited Away' play a fairly important part in 'Howl's Moving Castle', as does winged air ships and the smaller flying ships known from 'Laputa: Castle In the Sky', and perhaps the biggest concept that Miyazaki copied from his own previous work is the idea/depiction of Howl and his alter ego, which was highly reminiscent of one of the major character characters from 'Spirited Away', Haku. Coincidental I suppose since I haven't read the book but it just felt like the portrayal and concept was cut and pasted from 'Spirited Away'. Overall I enjoyed it purely on an artistic level, and while some of the magic is still evident from the brilliant mind of Miyazaki, the film seemed to be a smorgasbord of several of his films rolled into one, and not a very fluid, successful attempt at that. The story was disjointed and even though the story wrapped up with a sweet ending, there was still so much more that went unanswered and unfulfilled. Basically it comes down to a great deal of potential with this amazing premise (the book is most likely far better) but sadly not even Miyazaki could conceptualize this complex, intriguing and enchanting tale. It's still far better than most animation out there including the majority of what Hollywood churns out, but it's definitely sub-par for the standard set by Miyazaki himself. Worth seeing once, but not owning.

Howl's Moving Castle Available from Amazon Price: $21.49 Updated on 8-28-2008.

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