Movie #95 2020: Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Back with Studio Ghibli today, whose reserves I’m still making my way through since all of their films were added to Netflix recently.

Yet again, we are back with some beautiful animation in the form of Howl’s Moving Castle. The way Ghibli animate things is so difficult to describe because of how unique it is. Unsurprisingly, this movie entails a – shock, horror – moving castle, and if it wasn’t animated correctly, it would reduce the quality of the entire film. As usual, the studio opts to embed action with hand-drawn backgrounds, which is a feast for the eyes every single time you look at one of their movies. This again is a gorgeous feature within this one.

Of course, the plot and storytelling in Howl’s Moving Castle is just as imaginative and fantastical as usual. However, this time round it all seemed a little more erratic and all over the place, leaving me questioning what the hell was going on at points. I can’t even put that on the weirdness of its events, because other Ghibli films include things like cats that are buses, and parents turning into pigs. But for what ever reason, those movies make complete and utter sense, whereas this one all seemed a little less focused and more of one big clusterf*ck.

One thing I have forgotten to mention in the past is how gorgeous Studio Ghibli soundtracks are. The score is always whimsical and in-keeping with what is going on on screen, therefore making it a facet of all of their movies that deserves more attention and praise.

I still rate this movie very highly, despite the negative notes I’ve made on its storytelling. It’s just not as good as their others that I’ve seen so far, which – if nothing else – is simply a testament to how great they are.

Howl’s Moving Castle is available to stream on Netflix UK.

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