Hauru no Ugoku Shiro (Howl's Moving Castle)

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1). vladimirsever

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.livejournal.com/users/vladimirsever/1766.html

September 5, 2004

Vladimir's Moving Castle

By vladimirsever

[. . .]

From the huge applause that greeted the Studio Ghibli logo, to the huger applause after the movie ended, I was afraid to blink and miss something. It's that good. Yes, it's a Diana W. Jones story, but it's total Miyazaki through and through. From the beautifully-realised steampunk world of 19th century Europe, to the amazing, gilliamesque Castle itself, to Howl, who fights his battles far away from our eyes, to the wonderfully funny Calcifer, the spirit of fire, to the central story of a plain 18-y-old girl who falls under a spell and is transformed into a 90-y-old, it's a huge procession of OMG OMG OMG and more squee from my rusty old heart than Johnny Depp, bless his soul, could ever entice.

[. . .]

2). DVD Times

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=12716

September 7, 2004

Howl's Moving Castle

By Eddie Shannon

[. . .]

I'll say it right now; Miyazaki and co have done it again! Howl's Moving Castle is an absolutely fantastic film and a stunning example of the best that animation can offer as a medium. My girlfriend and I sat transfixed for the entire two hours, never once bored or wishing the film would hurry to its conclusion. I'm going to be honest and say that, even after this one viewing, Howl's Moving Castle has surpassed Laputa as my favourite Ghibli film (the only one I'm yet to see from them is Porco Rosso).

[. . .]

The voice acting is top notch throughout the whole film, especially that of Howl, who is played by Takuya Kimuram (one of the stars of Wong Kar Wai's upcoming 2046). The voices of the young and old Sophie are also excellent, and Chieko Baisho has done a sterling job of playing both *parts*.

Jones describes her contact with Miyazaki's studio as minimal. "My one real contact was when a group of studio people visited me, with interpreters. The group was trying to establish a proper visual background for the film."

[. . .]

My only criticism of the film would be that, if anything, the pace was a little too quick towards the end of the film and it almost felt as though the story was summed up in a rush. This, however, was probably due to me not wanting the film to finish, after having been absorbed into the fantastic world of Howl's Moving Castle for two hours!

[. . .]

3). Ain't It Cool News

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18784

November 10, 2004

A Review Of HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE!! Holy Crap!!

By Senator Ovaltine

[. . .]

This movie has an awful lot to live up to, especially considering its practically flawless predecessors and the amount of attention it's been getting - not to mention the box-office record previously set by Spirited Away - and I'm afraid it's probably not going to please everyone. That said, I think it's a fantastic film that may need multiple viewings to be fully appreciated.

[. . .]

The plot generally follows the book's for a good portion of the film, with some major differences, especially closer to the end (I won't spoil it for potential viewers and/or readers). It's the end which has the most trouble, though, mainly due to the fact that an awful lot has to be explained in a very short time, and it can get confusing if you're not taking mental notes. I was worried my limited Japanese was the problem, but was surprised that I was actually at an advantage having read the book and could explain some things that my Japanese friends didn't get. For example, it was unclear why a war was being fought and who, indeed, it was being fought against, and the identities of some minor characters, and their relationships to the others were also foggy. Some people may feel the ending is a bit rushed over, and it's never very fulfilling to leave a film scratching your head.

[. . .]

The fans will love it without question, while it'll grow on most other people over time. It didn't blow me away, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It's a very good film, and I can't wait to see it again.

4). Midnight Eye

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.midnighteye.com/reviews/howlsmovingcastle.shtml

November 29, 2004

Howl's Moving Castle

By Jasper Sharp

I mention all of this beforehand, because already I have heard mumblings, and from Japanese critics as well, that Howl's Moving Castle is "not typical Miyazaki", and lacks the personal touches that made his earlier work so memorable. At least part of the reasoning behind this judgement seems to be that not only did the source material for the project originate outside of Miyazaki - Kiki's Delivery Service in 1989, an adaptation of a book by Eiko Kadono, was the last time he directed a story written by someone else - but it also came from outside of Japan, from the novel of the same name by British children's writer Diana Wynne Jones that was published in 1986.

[. . .]

This decision to break with Miyazaki's own storytelling tradition of using adolescent girls as protagonists may be an attempt to forestall some of the prurient conjecturing his works have received in some quarters, but these cute young audience identification figures, nevertheless, remain a crucial element of the appeal of his work. Even in animation where anything goes, it's a brave move making a 90-year-old granny the centrepiece of the tale, even if she does have the heart of an 18 year-old. This tension between internal disposition and external appearances, however, turns out to be a crucial aspect of the plot, where even the most handsome young wizard may have a monstrous feathery creature slathering inside him, and it takes more than plain old-fashioned magic to keep the Wicked Witch of the Waste's seeping aged flesh from sagging around her knees.

[. . .]

You can divide Miyazaki's works into two camps. The smaller, more personal works such as My Neighbour Totoro or Porco Rosso, and the more grandiose epics such as his last two features. This latest somewhat straddles the two approaches, reigning in the requirements of the story within a two hour running time (something of a relief for those such as myself who made the unpopular criticism that Miyazaki's most recent works were simply just too long and baggy) yet whisking us onwards from scene to scene with a relentless momentum.

[. . .]

5). ActiveAnime.com

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.activeanime.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1003&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

January 03, 2005

A Comprehensive Review of Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle

By Aditi Gupta

[. . .]

Now, the movie is a creature of another sort. While maintaining the same basic plot, Miyazaki introduces various changes minor [such as making Michael, Howl’s apprentice into a 5-year-old boy rather than a 15-year-old] and major [such as shifting the narrative focus from Sophie to both Sophie and Howl]. Miyazaki beautifully transforms Jones’ fairytale world and makes it his own. For one thing, he industrializes it; trains belch smoke and these funky flying machines buzz around. The moving castle itself is absolutely wonderful! It smashes magic and machinery all into one to create a thing of pure imagination. My favorite is the one that comes at the end and flies with ribbed wings.

[. . .]

A note on the voice actors: Kimura Takuya, Japan’s great dorama heartthrob did the voice acting for Howl, and I must say it was somewhat disappointing. He conveyed Howl’s charming and serious sides wonderfully, but lacked the resilience to cover the joking, teasing, exasperating Howl. The woman who did the voice acting for “Moro” in Mononoke Hime did the Witch of the Waste, and she was impressively scary. The shifts in Sophie’s voice from young to old and vice versa I felt were well done too.

[. . .]

While Miyazaki’s creative capacity also shows itself in his own version of the plot, some of Miyazaki’s changes are not well done. For example, while Miyazaki makes Howl his own character by changing Howl’s personality, and that’s fine. But then he includes passages from the book [the part where Howl throws a tantrum over his hair color and covers the entire castle in green goo] that are incompatible with the Howl he has created.

[. . .]

Yet except for such disappointing aspects, the movie truly was magical and is definitely the must-see anime film of the year. It’s enchanting from beginning to end.

6). Ain't It Cool News

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=19274

January 28, 2004

ROTTERDAM: Elaine on this year's fest & Miyazaki's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE!!!

By Elaine

[. . .]

For while "Howl's Moving Castle" is a worthy film, it is nowhere near as good as "Spirited Away". Nor is it half as good as "The Incredibles", the film it's currently keeping from reaching the coveted number-one spot in Japan.

[. . .]

Sadly, what seems to be lacking is a good story. Diana Wynne Jones's "Howl's Moving Castle" is a subtle, detailed exploration of adolescence and heartlessness, with well-drawn characters whose motives may be ambiguous, but who are at all times endearing. Miyazaki's adaptation of the story is not nearly that gripping. True, the Witch of the Waste and Calcifer are great characters who make for excellent comic relief, but the main characters, so well drawn in the book, lack depth. Their difficulties seem contrived, and their situations in life and backgrounds are simplified to the point of making no sense. To make matters even worse, their relationships to each other are kept vague, as well. And since you're never quite certain just how the characters are supposed to be related to each other, you don't really care what happens between them.

[. . .]

Tragically, the lack of depth and cohesion isn?t the only problem of the film. A viewer familiar with the rest of Miyazaki's oeuvre will inevitably be struck by the familiarity of it all - the nagging sense that he's seen it all before. So many familiar Miyazaki themes and tricks are reused here that the film almost feels like an exercise in recycling. Occasionally, the familiarity and predictability are endearing, but most of the time they are vaguely annoying.

[. . .]

One final thing - be sure to watch the original version with subtitles when it finally comes your way. The Japanese voice acting is excellent (no grating little-girl voices here); I doubt an American dub will do the film justice. Furthermore, an American dub will rob you of the curious Japanese pronunciation of the name Michael ("Markl"), which is one of the film's great charms.

7). Toon Zone

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=3177

April 29, 2005

"Howl's Moving Castle" Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing New

By Twage

Howl's Moving Castle is an anomaly. It's a film that is at once beautiful, artistic, and stunning and yet also pandering, silly and naive. Parts of it are as inspired and surreal as Spirited Away, others are jarringly dull.

[. . .]

Visually, most of the film is what a Studio Ghibli production should be: beautiful, creative, subtle, and engaging. The castle's design is very appealing and not what I would have expected, and Turnip, Calcifer and Heen (the dog) fill the film's quota for cutely offbeat (and merchandisable!) characters.

[. . .]

Despite all these advantages Howl's plot falls flat. Although the first half of the film is engaging and well-paced, the second half wanders about rather aimlessly trying to find a good place to end. Unfortunately it never does, and though the climax is exciting, the resolution as a whole is cliched, saccharine, and rushed. The solution to the war story thread is particularly shoddy and inexcusably naive, especially considering this is the same director that gave us Princess Mononoke.

[. . .]

It's not that Howl's Moving Castle is a bad film. Taken separately its parts are actually very good, it's just that the film never quite integrates them into a coherent whole.

[. . .]