Howl's Moving Castle

Miyazaki's films usually present an original world and an original story, it is not the usual squeezing of classic fairy tale motifs that everyone knows by heart. Howl's Moving Castle is a geyser of visual fantasy, a peculiar kind of fairy tale fantasy with a distinctly anti-war message. Excellent drawings, obviously inspired by classical Japanese manga, careful animation, and above all a colorful plot where the world of magic, demons, and wizards comes to life. The first half is reliably worth five stars, but in the last third, the script becomes unnecessarily overcomplicated, and the adventurous story turns into a romance that dangerously plays with kitsch at the end with the arrival of the rescued prince, happy smiles, and kisses. The wizard's castle, as a strange combination of a hut on chicken legs and an industrial complex, which seems to have come out of Terry Gilliam's creative workshop, remains most vividly in my memory. Overall impression: 80%. (01/05/2009)

The transition from a steampunk fairy tale to a philosophical adventure full of various metaphors was so smooth that I didn't even notice it and I was entertained from beginning to end, even though I was sometimes confused about what was going on, especially in the finale. I’m sure I’ve written several times already that Miyazaki's imagination is admirable, but I'll happily write it again. A beautiful film with a beautiful idea. (14/10/2023)

The most romantic creation of Master's fantasy. Throw away the quality standards because here we fly over mountains, doors open into four different spaces, all the main characters change their appearance, and magic is not far away. And the world of animated film is once again richer by one little treasure, much to my immeasurable joy. (07/12/2008)

What I appreciate about this film is its unpredictability. Miyazaki completely breaks the stereotype of fairy tales or fantasy stories – you have no chance to guess what will happen in the next few minutes, you are constantly surprised, the differences between bad and good characters are blurred (the one who is the embodiment of evil at the beginning can become a good friend) and all this happens without any stumbles in logic. Moreover, Miyazaki is like a small child, blessed with a vivid imagination, throwing one obscure idea after another in front of him. The film combines the classic fairy tale world with the industrial age of steam, the classic world of magic with crazy war mechanisms. The viewer's senses are so overwhelmed that the final impression sometimes teeters on the verge of being cluttered (which is my only complaint). (16/02/2012)

That was indeed a cinematic fairy tale for me, one that I won't forget. Hayao Miyazaki obviously has a surplus of imagination, because otherwise, he couldn't have created such a captivating world as in the anime Howl's Moving Castle. Even now I am still intoxicated by the visually imaginative film imbued with a romantic atmosphere and brimming with sympathetic characters. Calcifer, the demon trapped in the fireplace, is really great. The pleasant music and gentle, non-intrusive humor that the story possesses are certainly worth mentioning. (90%) (15/04/2021)