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Howl's Moving Castle (2005)
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Movie Review by Suzanne
March 18th, 2008
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I had the opportunity to catch this one again on television, although I had seen it once before. The second time around was even better, and I had forgotten how spellbinding it is. You literally fall in love with all of the characters as they each have their own lovable quirkiness about them. It was especially easy for me to take a liking to the Howl character, as he is a dashing young wizard spoken by Christian Bale. Bale's voice is both strong and soft, giving Howl confidence, a romantic side, and authenticity.
Jean Simmons who does the voice for Grandma Sophie had me in stitches. She gets herself into trouble by doing things her old body isnt used to, but then pushes herself to complete whatever it is she started. She makes fun of herself and the irony is hysterical. Lauren Bacall's character as the Witch of the Waste even had me chuckling in the end.
You should know the voice of the fire demon Calcifer without even looking it up. He is another lovable character that adds so much heart to the story. Even though he wants to be a tough spirited fire demon, he really does need people to love him.
Once you find yourself inside the Moving Castle you will never want to leave. It has special powers and can even change shape if Howl wills it. I am always amazed by art with high detail, and the castle with all its clattering parts is really unbelieveable. These elements also remind me of the work of Brian Froud who did the conceptual design of artwork for the movie the Dark Crystal.
Of course all of the actors did their parts well. What is amazing is that Hayao Miyazaki's animation tricks you into thinking that all of this is real. In the same sense that one could lose themselves inside a film with real actors, Miyazaki's animated ones have the same effect.
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