Fangirl scream for Howl! .. Howl's Moving Castle Review...

 (from http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/howl/poster_images/USA_full.jpg)

If you're wondering who's Howl, here's a picture for ya..

 

Oh and here's him as well.. with a cool hair color

Yeah.. he's an anime character from Miyazaki's masterpiece - Howl's Moving Castle. A very whimsical animated movie, as expected from Miyazaki. I know it's kinda late for me to watch this, but I got really curious and I can't help myself but watch. It didn't fell under the "Best of the Best" category, but definitely it was under the "You're suppose to watch this 10 years ago" category. Oh boy did I miss a lot in my younger years.. Anyway, It's time for me to give my review.

Here goes...

The Look.

Definitely Miyazaki written all over it. The look, the colors, the characters.. EVERYTHING! It's what we all call trademark. It really worked for me. I love how dreamy the scenery are and how magical the scenes are. I was blown away by the moving castle's animation; really sophisticated! everythings almost perfect. The only thing that bothered me a little was Sophies dress... It's so.. dull. No offense to the designers, but it was really dull. 

 

The hat didn't help.. 

Howl's outfit was fine. It wasn't too flashy, wasn't too dull either. No matter what he was wearing he ended up kinda dreamy, and with Christian Bale's voice.. WOW! it made the character sound so suave! At one point Bale did the batman voice, and I was like "whut the-?". It was a weird moment for me, but at least the voice fits.

The Characters and the Story. 

Howl... there's nothing to describing except for pure dreamy-ness and awesome-ness! He was cool! well, not for his tricks but for his dashing manner. He treated Sophie like a princess... awwwww! [like any man should do! hmp!]. I wish he was real. I'd marry a guy like that, even though he's a drama queen. 

Here's a proof that he's a drama queen..

 hahaha! so funny, but I still love him!!!!

Sophie was plain and innocent. She depicts a person who is so new to Howl's world. Even though her plainness can bore people, the movie is nothing without her. She is one of the important keys to the story.

To be honest, Howl and Sophie were pushing for the two-totally-different-people-love-team cliche; I mean pairing an overly vain guy to a fashion disaster is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Then again, if I watched this 10 years ago, I won't mind this love team cliche. And, it's not the movie makers' fault, because it's actually based from a fairly old novel. In short, the love team won't work as much as it would've been ten years ago. For me, it worked in most parts, specially at the climax, it got me hooked. Now, the villains, I love. The witch of the waste a.k.a. "fat granny", wasn't useless as I thought she would be. She was freaky but at the end turned into a poor old lady. The Sullivan lady was a wolf underneath a sheep's clothing, she was the selfish kind of evil. The sidekicks were awesome. Markl is cute and so is Calcifer. The voice actors gave good performances. Christian Bale was excellent. Emily Mortimer (as Sophie) was just OK, but didn't disappoint.Blythe Danner is the best as Madame Sullivan. Billy Crystal managed to keep me laughing (as Calcifer). Josh Hutcherson was adorable as Markl. For some anime shows, english dubs suck, but this cast was no joke! I applaud them. :)

The story was as good as the movie's art and style; very whimsical and dreamy. But similarly to what I felt in Spirited Away, the movie left me unsatisfied with some facts. As much as it impressed me, it left me with questions in my head. I realized it was the director's style to encourage the audience imagination. Good technique, but confusing [for some viewers]. Overall, the story kinda left me hanging. I wish there was a sequel. But in some sense, the story was simply beautiful.

My Rating...

7.9/10

If I were to rate Howl's awesomeness -- 10/10 hahaha!!! I officially have a crush on cartoon character.

 

Here's more of Howl's awesome-ness!.. xD