Title: Howl's Moving Castle UK distributor: Optimum Asia BBFC Certificate: U Suggested Retail Price (SRP): £19.99 Running Time: 119 mins (approx.) Audio Options: English 5.1, Japanese 5.1 Subtitles: English Reviewer:  Tom (Webmaster)

After the huge international success of the magnificent Spirited Away, whichever film director Hayao Miyazaki followed his masterpiece with was going to be scrutinised more then any other of his films.  Based on the novel of the same name by British novelist Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle is another showcase of Miyazaki's charm and unique talent which, on first appearances, should be a worthy addition to his excellent previous work. 
 

Howl opens with a magnificent opening shot of the beautiful industrialist moving castle and from thereon the story never stops.  We are introduced to the heroine Sophie and then in turn to the wizard Howl who saves Sophie from the henchmen of the villain The Witch Of The Waste.  Angered, the Witch places a spell on Sophie which turns her into a ninety-year old woman and, just to rub salt into the wound, Sophie can never tell anyone of the curse which prevents her asking Howl for help. 
 

The original Whigfield wasn't successful
 

The story then moves quickly with Sophie setting out into the hills to find a way to lift the curse.  She stumbles across a live scarecrow who leads her to the moving castle owned by the wizard Howl.  Here Sophie meets Howl's companions - his younger apprentice and the fire demon Calcifer and she takes on the role of cleaning lady to be closer to Howl.  From here on we learn more of the horrific war in which Howl refuses to pledge allegiance to either side, Sophie's inner feelings as well as the mysterious link between Howl and Calcifer. 

For the first hour, Howl is a joy to watch and one of the best examples of Miyazaki's genius to date.  Every minute is filled with imagination such as Howl's multiple-door portal, the slime henchmen of the Witch Of The Waste and, of course, the castle itself.  The animation is the most sumptuous and impressive of Miyazaki's to date with a magnificent score by Joe Hisashi to match.  The characters are also immediately likeable and remarkably individual - Sophie's unselfish reaction to her curse in comparison to Howl's vanity is an excellent contrast of human emotion that is played out brilliantly by Miyazaki as his script never makes it too obvious.  The character Calcifer is wise-cracking character that often adds the comic relief but is much more then just a comic character as can been seen later in the film. 
 

The neighbours leylandii prompted Howl to move
 

After the fantastic first hour though, everything suddenly changes when Howl is summoned to see the King's head sorceress Sulliman to be enlisted to fight the enemy.  This dialogue-heavy scene is brilliantly executed and changes the entire feel of the film as the coincidences of the war are to similar to the current situation with America and Iraq.  The war in Howl essentially sees Sulliman bombing countries who's policies she does not agree with and sees his wizards turning themselves into hideous monsters to fight, even though they will be unable to turn back. 
 

The war metaphor continues with characters commenting on civilian suffering caused by blanket bombing and 'magic' bombing which seems to refer to the technical weaponry of the US army.  Also the war is controlled by Sulliman, not the King which echoes the theory that Bush is a puppet leader, just as the King is in Howl.  Add to the above that Sulliman believes that she is doing right and that it is a 'just war' and you will find that the coincidences are to similar for Howl just to be a message that all war is wrong, instead that it is a metaphor for that the current stance of the US is wrong.  This is certainly unusual for Miyazaki as he has always claimed that he would never put a political message in any of his films, but I feel with Howl that he has which makes Howl his darkest film yet.  After the confrontation with Sulliman the fun of Howl certainly continues with Howl's motley crew, but seeing Howl fight against both sides in the war (at the risk of turning into a monster himself) makes for powerful viewing.  The second half goes on to explain the unique relationship between Howl and Calcifer before coming to a surprisingly abrupt - and disappointing - ending. 

Personally I felt that Howl is Miyazaki's most challenging film to date and makes for fascinating viewing.  Although the political stance surprised me it only served to reinforce that Miyazaki is master of drama as well as comedy and fantasy.  In this aspect Howl combines all of Miyazaki's talents into one unique film that could have surpassed Spirited Away if it were not for the ending.  The film ends very suddenly, has a rushed feel to it and sadly suggests that Miyazaki ran out of ideas and chose to end the film in a way that a sub-standard Hollywood effort would have done. 

Despite the ending though Howl is still in class of its own when compared to any film not by Miyazaki or his animation studio Studio Ghibli, showing far more imagination, drama, comedy and story then any of its rivals.  Compared to Miyazaki's previous work however, it is a slight disappointment but still a breathtaking spectacle. 

Extras

An impressive list of extras includes interviews with the original author Diana Wynne Jones and Pixar's Peter Docter as well as the documentary Hello Lasseter which was previously only available in Japan and documents Miyazaki's visit to Pixar Studios to meet John Lasseter following the making of Spirited Away. 

Other extras include full alternative angle storyboards, original Japanese trailers and TV spots as well as English trailers.  Also included is featurette which explain the CGI effects which were used in Howl. 

Ratings

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