{"id":47449,"date":"2005-06-12T18:41:59","date_gmt":"2005-06-12T22:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=47449"},"modified":"2020-04-25T18:47:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T22:47:36","slug":"review-howls-moving-castle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2005\/06\/12\/review-howls-moving-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Sophie is a timid young woman who spends her day in a small shop making hats and watching the trains that roll past her window. However, after a marketplace encounter with a mysterious and magical stranger, she finds herself cursed by the Witch of the Wastes, her body bent and aged like a 90-year old woman\u2019s. The Witch is a rival of Howl, a powerful wizard who happens to be the stranger Sophie encountered in the market, and wants her to deliver a message to him. Sophie sets out and finds Howl\u2019s home roaming the countryside between two warring kingdoms like a steam-driven Baba Yaga\u2019s Hut. It\u2019s here that Sophie manages to integrate herself into Howl\u2019s life, hoping to find a way to reverse the Witch of the Wastes\u2019 curse. Howl is being sought by the leaders of both kingdoms for his aid in their war, but Howl just wants to be left alone.<\/p>\n

From almost any other director, a film like Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/strong> would be considered a career high point. It has an imaginative story filled with well-defined characters and skillfully rendered animation. But this is a film by Japanes director Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps one of the greatest storytellers to have ever worked in animation, so a different level of excellence is demanded. For Miyazaki, whose career has been almost nothing but high points, Howl\u2019s<\/strong> is a surprising disappointment. While it is a good film, it is not up to the level we\u2019ve come to expect from him. Compared to his recent films – Princess Mononoke<\/strong> (1997) and the Oscar winning Spirited Away<\/strong> (2001) – Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/strong> seems unfocused. There are long stretches of the film that don\u2019t advance either the plot or the characters. Although it is the shortest of his recent films, its comparatively slow pace make it feel as though it\u2019s the longest.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The usual tropes of Miyazaki\u2019s films are all on display here- the strange world that combines magic and technology, a lead character with the mysterious past, the preoccupation with flying, a character who is not as evil as they first appear. However, their use here doesn\u2019t seem quiet as inspired as in previous films. While these elements are not used poorly, they do not seem to sparkle with the same verve that one is used to seeing in a Miyazaki film.<\/p>\n

While it may not live up to the standards set by the predecessors on Miyazaki\u2019s filmography, Howl\u2019s Moving Castle<\/strong> is still a film worth seeing, if only for the design and skillful animation. In an area where traditional hand-drawn animation is being shunned by American studios in favor of sleek computer generated imagery, Miyazaki\u2019s work stands out for its craftsmanship and attention to detail. He doesn\u2019t completely shun the possibilities offered by digital animation, using a computer to manipulate hand-drawn elements such as Howl\u2019s lumbering home, proving that even when he stumbles, Miyazaki still can produce a film that is probably better than what most domestic studios typically offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sophie is a timid young woman who spends her day in a small shop making hats and watching the trains that roll past her window. However, after a marketplace encounter with a mysterious and magical [click for more]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[1916,10772],"series":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-review","7":"tag-hayao-miyazaki","8":"tag-howls-moving-castle"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t