Howl's Moving Castle: Success Story, or Massive Disappointment?

Howl’s Moving Castle is a 2004 film from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. The 9th of his 11 films to-date, it’s received plenty of accolades and praise worldwide. It currently holds an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 80 on Metacritic, an 8.2 on IMDb and was even nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards. Not to mention, it’s gathered a huge and dedicated cult-following. With that said, is it really as good as people claim?

I’ve made no secrets about my relationship with this movie: I’ve written several pieces on it, most-notably this one on ScrewAttack. I’ve criticized it harshly on Twitter, even getting into several debates with a few of my Followers. And I’ve lamented about it in real-life to a few of my friends, most-notably my job coach. And yet, it still won’t leave me alone! So I’ve decided to put my foot down…again and see if it’s really that great.

Be warned: 1. I’m not mentioning the books, as I believe an adaptation should work on its own merits. 2. Lots of spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.

What Works?

Perhaps Howl’s Moving Castle’s greatest strengths can be summed up in two words: “aesthetics” and “characters”. However, since that doesn’t do them justice, I guess I’ll elaborate:

Beginning with aesthetics, the movie looks, like every other Miyazaki film, absolutely gorgeous. The scenery, the art-style, the cinematography, you name it, it’s great! That’s one of the highlights of Miyazaki’s films, as even his lowest-lows look incredible. It’s great too because Miyazaki understands the nuances of the worlds he creates. They’re detailed, well thought-out and, most-importantly, memorable. And while this one has its fair share of “Wait, what?!” moments, which I’ll get back to, you at least know everything still fits together.

Speaking of which, I love the design of Howl’s castle. Yes, it’s bizarre enough to, to paraphrase a book I own, look like it was ripped from a Terry Gilliam project, but I don’t care. There’s enough life and personality to the castle that you really feel like it’s alive. Everything from the entrance, to the multiple secret passageways, to even the layout of the sinks and bathrooms, all feel like something that’d exist in this world. It’s amazing how well it functions as a contraption too, so much so that I’d even argue it’s more memorable than anything else in the movie.

I love the soundtrack. It’s Joe Hisaishi, meaning that you’d expect top-notch work anyway, but he doesn’t disappoint with his scorings here; in fact, here’s the main theme:

The Merry-Go-Round of Life - Howl’s Moving Castle

Beautiful, no? Joe Hisaishi’s composed some excellent themes, but this, I’d argue, is his best. Yeah, forget Mononoke Hime and The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, this is Hisaishi’s magnum opus! In fact, guess what I’m listening to as I type this? It’s that good, and its constant reuse really makes it magical!

Moving on, the sound design is absolutely fantastic, as is the case for all of Miyazaki’s films. Sound design’s a weird and tricky part of animation, as it can easily feel too cartoony if not done properly. Howl’s Moving Castle has a lot of unusual and downright bizarre sound effects that could easily fall into that trap , but, fortunately, that’s not the case. Everything, right down to the noises the castle makes, feels rough, weighty and realistic, so kudos to whomever did the sound design for this film!

The cast is wonderfully fleshed-out. Perhaps a little too complicated for their own good at times, which I’ll also get back to, but even so. Sophie embraces both sides of her character, old and young, with ease, while Howl has enough cards up his sleeve to keep you guessing. The Witch of the Waste, though a disappointing antagonist, is still fun to watch, Turniphead is entertaining despite having no dialogue and Markl is how to do a pre-teen boy right (aspiring writers, take note!) Even the side-characters are fun to watch, my favourites being Calcifer and Heen. The former is a blast, no pun intended, every time he opens his mouth, while the latter is a riot despite only hiccuping.

I really like Sophie and Howl’s relationship. Sure, it’s not without hiccups (again, I’ll return to that later,) but it still felt natural. I never once second-guessed that the two had chemistry, and everything, right down to their kiss at the end, was real and not forced. Which is great because this could’ve gone wrong in the hands of another, less-qualified director. Howl and Sophie are forced into a relationship by circumstances not in their control, so it’s good that Miyazaki had a lemonade execution for a lemony set-up.

By the way, kudos on the dub! Howl’s Moving Castle has, arguably, Disney’s best Studio Ghibli dub, although why Christian Bale went for an American accent instead of his native Welsh is really bizarre.

Finally, the movie’s emotional moments really resonated: Sophie’s freak-out after Howl chastises her for messing with his potions? 100% believable. Howl deciding to fight for Sophie? Also 100% believable. Even the end twist (I have a lot to get back to, don’t I?) was emotionally fitting, which says a lot considering how dumb it is.

Okay, kiddie gloves off!

What DOESN’T Work?

Where do I even begin?

I’ll start with the most glaring flaw: the story is a mess! And not in a good way either, that’d be too easy! We’re talking a “What in the world is going on?” kind of way. I’ll admit that Miyazaki’s not known for his excellent scripting, since he tends to let his storyboards do the talking for themselves, but even his most bizarre films have an overlapping focus! This movie? Not really.

Let’s compare the film with my four favourites:

What’s the premise of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind? Simple: girl fights to keep her homeland alive amidst the warring kingdoms surrounding it.

What’s the premise of Castle in the Sky? Simple: two kids try to find Laputa.

What’s the premise of Princess Mononoke? A little more complicated, but still pretty straightforward: warrior with infected arm tries to keep balance between people and nature in order to lift his curse.

And finally, what’s the premise of Spirited Away? Simple: girl becomes bath attendant to save her parents from being eaten by spirits.

What do these films have in-common? Easy: they’re not hard to summarize for the uninitiated. This is the case for all of Miyazaki’s films…save Howl’s Moving Castle. Sure, you can tout it to “girl with curse tries to break curse”, but even that won’t do it justice. In my retrospective on ScrewAttack, I mentioned that the problem with summarizing this movie is that you’re left with too many questions. Questions like “Why was Sophie cursed?” or “How does Howl factor into this?” There’s way too much going on that I think the late-Roger Ebert said it perfectly in his review:

“A parade of weird characters comes onstage to do their turns, but the underlying plot grows murky and, amazingly for a Miyazaki film, we grow impatient at spectacle without meaning.”

On top of that, guess what also doesn’t work? The film’s theme. The movie rams down your throat that “WAR IS BAD, WAR IS SUFFERING, END THIS WAR NOW!” so often that it stops being subtext and becomes actual text when the characters start talking about it. And it’s infuriating. Because yes, war’s awful, I’m not ignorant. But it’s sometimes necessary, as evidenced by the Allies fighting Nazi Germany in WWII. War is an unfortunate reality of the human condition, and behaving like a child throwing a tantrum makes it hard for me to take you seriously. (Yeah, and you thought Avatar’s pro-environmentalist message was preachy, huh?)

It’s especially infuriating for two reasons: firstly, Miyazaki’s an expert at animating war. There are so many scenes that depict it that you’re left wondering why Miyazaki’s not pro-military. And secondly, Miyazaki’s done nuance in war with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. He’s not an idiot, he knows it’s complicated, so why go on this tirade? Miyazaki’s said that this was his way of venting about the American invasion of Iraq in 2002, hence why he refused to show at the Oscars when Spirited Away won Best Animated Feature, but it doesn’t mean he can’t be mature and not throw a tantrum, right? Besides, if you want a more effective commentary on the “pointlessness” of war, watch Fullmetal Alchemist instead!

Next, the in-film world. Remember how I said I loved the designs? That’s still true…to an extent. Everything about this movie, from the castle to the modes of transportation, are cool to look at, but they clash. There’s no sense of a proper time period, and while this is steampunk fantasy, so you get to bend the rules, at the same time the lack of context for anything is downright confusing; for example, what are advanced airships and horse and buggy carriages doing side-by-side in a feudal-European backdrop? The movie never says, so your guess is as good as mine!

I’d also, and this’ll sound hypocritical, like to pick on the soundtrack. Why? Because for as good as it is, there’s little variety. Almost every tune is a variant of the theme song, which’d be fine…if Joe Hisaishi’s previous scores weren’t more diverse. Homogeneity becomes boring after a while, switch it up! Don’t give me the same track over and over, that’s laziness!

Moving to the characters, for as much as I like pretty much all of them-save two exceptions-there are definitely some aspects that bug me to no end. Take Sophie’s curse: it’s implied to flop back and forth depending on her self-confidence, but you wouldn’t know that from first, second or third viewings. It’s not even acknowledged by her, which is doubly-annoying because every other Miyazaki movie has a moment where the character acknowledges the core objective as complete. Then there’s The Witch of the Waste, who’s set up as the villainess in this first-half…only to have a personality shift and become a supporting character that Howl mysteriously accept into their family. And who takes her place? Some boring enchantress who’s using the war to weed out disloyal subjects! *Sigh*

Also, Sophie’s mother’s really irritating.

On the subject of Sophie, her relationship with Howl has its share of “huh?”. The scene where he freaks out at her, for example? Completely out of left-field. His sudden desire to care for and protect her? Also out of left-field. So many of Sophie and Howl’s romantic moments also feel underdeveloped, and if it weren’t for them sharing chemistry…well, let’s not go there.

This leads to the issue of character motivations being way too complicated. Yes, they’re nuanced. Yes, that makes them feel real. No, that doesn’t automatically qualify as better writing. Because if a character is never explored properly, then why bother having depth? I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather the “one-note” characters from Ponyo, at least they’re explored efficiently! Here…not so much.

By the way, the end twist doesn’t work, at all. Remember Turniphead? Yeah, he’s the lost prince the war was based around. But you wouldn’t know that because the movie never leaves clues, and that he gets up and leaves like it’s no big deal ruins his reason for being there. In other words, Howl’s Moving Castle, a Miyazaki movie, fails both requirements on my “Plot Twist Litmus Test”, which makes me sad.

Finally, the film has scenes that don’t add up: Sophie’s walk on the rooftops with Howl? Save making The Witch of the Waste jealous, it’s pointless. Howl’s freak-out moment? Pointless. Sophie and The Witch of the Waste walking up the steps to Madame Sullivan’s palace? Weird AND pointless. Sophie’s dream sequence? Do I have to say it?

Essentially, while Miyazaki’s known for taking his time, here the detours pad out a movie that’s already overly-long, has too much jammed into it and still feels like it needs to be longer, for some reason.

The Verdict?

I face an awkward dilemma when discussing Howl’s Moving Castle; on one hand, I find the movie fascinating and rich with details that make me want to come back. On the other hand, whenever I do come back it’s always the same: headaches, confusion and amazement that something from one of my favourite directors went sour so fast. The entire movie’s a gigantic train wreck of ideas, and while far from incompetent, that doesn’t mean it’s straight-forward or easy to understand. What’s worse is that my attempts to express my thoughts usually ends in accusations that I’m being unfair or overly critical. But after 5 viewings of the movie with minimal change in opinion, is it fair to say that?

I’m not suggesting this movie’s flat-out awful. I still like it in spite of its problems, as its strengths mostly make up for its flaws and inconsistencies. But it’s like I said on ScrewAttack: Howl’s Moving Castle is the dinner guest who piles his or her plate with food and doesn’t eat half of it. It’s messy, rude and a glory hog. And I have absolutely no tolerance for that.

I’ve heard fans use justifications for why I’m being unfair. “It’s not supposed to follow a conventional structure!” Guess what? Even unconventional stories have rhyme or reason to them. This one doesn’t, so that’s a bad excuse.

“I’d rather it over Ponyo!” is another one. I’m fine with that, but I’m not one of those people who likes ambition for the sole sake of ambition. Because that can be misguided, and I prefer competency any day. Ponyo, for all its simplicity, is far more competent, so it wins out.

In the end, this is tricky. Half of me hates this movie, what it represents, and that it stains a director’s otherwise excellent track-record. But the other half acknowledges its existence and doesn’t mind, even enjoying parts of it. So while I don’t fault anyone for liking Howl’s Moving Castle, even critics, I still think it’s overrated and consider it one of Miyazaki’s lesser-works. You may now pelt me with stones.