Howl's Moving Castle review

2004

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Starring Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, and Emily Mortimer (English); Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura and Tatsuya Gashûin (Japanese)

Let me start off by saying that the book Howl's Moving Castle is probably my favorite book ever.

I'll follow that up by saying that this movie is also one of my favorites. I mean, it's a Miyazaki film (so you can't go wrong there), and it's got Christian Bale in it. But a good movie based on a book? No way! (Way.)

I think this movie did so well because the plot was so vastly different than the book's. Miyazaki took the basic story, and made it his own.

Sophie is a hatter, who has no confidence in herself whatsoever. She's walking along when she's accosted by some military boys, and is spirited away (haha, see my joke there?) and is saved by a strange man we'll later find out is the wizard Howl. Sophie later makes a witch very upset, and she is changed into an old woman. Not wanting her family to see, she leaves home, and once again runs into Howl, although this time she sees his moving castle. He ends up letting her stay as his cleaning lady, although they eventually fall in love. (No worries! She isn't old forever!)

I left out all the juicy stuff (I mean, c'mon, that alone makes for a boring plot), and that's where everything's different.

I think this movie is enchanting and endearing. It's something I can watch over and over and still love.

/ [Akayume]

   More movie reviews