Howl's Moving Castle

What I appreciate about this film is its unpredictability. Miyazaki completely breaks the stereotype of fairy tales or fantasy stories – you have no chance to guess what will happen in the next few minutes, you are constantly surprised, the differences between bad and good characters are blurred (the one who is the embodiment of evil at the beginning can become a good friend) and all this happens without any stumbles in logic. Moreover, Miyazaki is like a small child, blessed with a vivid imagination, throwing one obscure idea after another in front of him. The film combines the classic fairy tale world with the industrial age of steam, the classic world of magic with crazy war mechanisms. The viewer's senses are so overwhelmed that the final impression sometimes teeters on the verge of being cluttered (which is my only complaint). (2012-02-16)

I can't help but like this movie the most from Miyazaki so far, where does a Princess Mononoke a.k.a. eco-agitator go? :-) No, but I just find this a beautiful story with music that suits it. My only regret is that he didn't dye his hair back in the end, he really liked the blonde one better :-)) Daisuki! I'm going to bed with a smile on my face, reassured. And I like it that way because I want to have a good night's sleep. But that doesn't belong here anymore. ;-) (2009-05-06)

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. (2012-08-12)

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%. (2009-05-01)

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. (2008-07-04)