Howl's Moving Castle: A Film Review

WARNING: Includes minor spoilers for Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Cast (English dub version): Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Blythe Danner, Lauren Bacall, Josh Hutcherson and Billy Crystal

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Runtime: 119 minutes

Rating: PG (parental guidance), some scenes may be scary for younger children

Release date: 5 September 2004 (61st Venice International Film Festival), 20 November 2004 (Japan)

Based on: Howl's Moving Castle (novel) by Diana Wynne Jones

An aesthetically-pleasing, hilarious and heartwarming fantasy adventure. That's how I describe Howl's Moving Castle. I've never watched a Studio Ghibli film before, and I've never read the novel that this film is based on, but this is the film that converted me fully to anime after watching more adult-ish, bloody, gory anime projects such as the prequel film to The Witcher TV series starring Henry Cavill (of which I have done a review) - The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (starring Theo James and Lara Pullver), the Netflix series Castlevania (starring Richard Armitage, James Callis and Alejandra Reynoso) and Blood of Zeus (starring Derek Phillips, Jason O'Mara and Jessica Henwick).

All that aside, this film is utterly gorgeous. Beautiful landscapes abound, complete with compelling characters, hilarious moments, great dialogue and action scenes, and a swoon-worthy romance plot that doesn't bog down the movie, but instead compliments the storytelling beautifully. The film opens with the titular moving castle making its way across a grassy landscape, then pans to an inner-city hat-making shop, where our young protagonist, Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), is hard at work making hats. Immediately we're drawn into Sophie's world. She's quiet, soft-spoken and we get a sense that she's a little more buried in her work than she'd like to admit. We learn a little later that her father has passed away, and she primarily runs the hat shop. Her mother is in the picture, but the woman is so flamboyant that she seems more like a young adult or a spirited teenager than a mother. Perhaps that was intentional, I'm not sure. It was a little jarring at first to see the woman that Sophie calls her mother, especially because her mother is so young. She isn't named, and only pops up at least three times in the film. We also learn that Sophie has a sister who works in the bakery the town over, but we only see her once in the film. Other than that, the story is entirely Sophie's, and rightly so.

During a morning visit to her sister, Sophie runs into some guards, who begin to catcall and tease her. Panicked, she is rescued by a dashing blonde man who is voiced by none other than Christian Bale in an entirely different light than his more iconic roles as Bruce Wayne (the Dark Knight trilogy) or Patrick Bateman (American Psycho). After floating her down into a balcony by way of his wizardy powers, the blonde man leaves, stunning Sophie. Several people in the city that Sophie lives in, as well as Sophie's sister, have seen the moving castle before, and many more hold the fear that the wizard Howl, who is the master of the castle, eats the hearts of young girls.

Nevertheless, Sophie ignores what seems like fairytales. Even with the news that the evil Witch of the Waste is on the hunt again in their land. Sophie isn't exactly afraid of anything, but she's also not very bold either. The true stroke of fear comes to light when she sees the Witch of the Waste in person, who is voiced by the late actress Lauren Bacall. The Witch hexes Sophie, turning her into an elderly woman. The catch: Sophie can't speak about what the Witch did to her. After initially getting over her alarm at her newfound wrinkled appearance, she makes a journey outside the city to seek out the Witch. Instead, she comes up close with the titular moving castle, and encounters Howl's young apprentice, Markl (voiced by Josh Hutcherson - remember Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games, anyone? - except this is a much younger Josh Hutcherson), and the beating heart of the castle, a fire demon named Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal - who also voices Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.)

What unfolds next is a lovely adventure through the hills and valleys of this fictional world, featuring Howl, Sophie, Markl and Calcifer, juxtaposed by imminent threats about a war on the way that Howl seems to be fighting. Without giving too much away, the film ends on a wonderful note, with a rather interesting climax involving Howl, Calcifer and even the Witch of the Waste. I won't spoil what happens with Sophie and her old lady hex, or even with Howl and Sophie's love story - you'll just have to watch the movie to find that out.

I have yet to read the book that this film is based on, and I've heard multiple people say that the book is Sophie's version of events, telling it true, and the movie is Howl's version of events. Howl's apparently an utter drama queen in the book, and one scene in the film definitely prove that. In one scene, Sophie is cleaning out the castle and switches around Howl's bath and hair stuff, and he comes out, crying that his hair is now coloured orange. It's a rather hilarious scene, and he soon makes the room dark, eventually melting into a pile of sickly green goo. Markl's a little terrified, even though he's seen this happen before and remarks that he did this when a girl dumped him. Sophie replies he's just having a big tantrum. I would definitely agree. My man Howl just doesn't believe in labels. Don't worry, Howl makes it out of his bad hair day just fine, and for the rest of the movie, his hair is a gorgeous black colour. And all because he cried about being a ginger.

But this movie is utterly perfect in every way, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. I recently watched another Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away, and that one is good too, although Howl's Moving Castle is just so much better. I'll be doing another film review soon, on the new live action Little Mermaid that came out recently, and I'll also be giving my honest thoughts on the Cat and Mouse duet by H.D. Carlton (Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline). Please stay tuned for more! Keep liking and following, and if you're able to get a hold of my Linktree (it's in my bio I think), please leave some tips so I can keep writing and keep making this into a small side income.