Howl's Moving Castle (2005)

​Miyazaki has never presented a boring world on screen. His legendary skills and the work of the amazing team at Studio Ghibli are reason enough to experience all of their animation. Spirited Away and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind are two titles I'll always remember and revisit often. Howl's Moving Castle also has such notoriety and in some ways it's deserved. The work of the English dub cast was incredible. Howl's castle is a memorable sight that I almost felt wasn't explored enough. I was excited for every twist and new character. There's so much to take in and then it ended, without ever really grasping my emotions. I believe this has a lot to do with Sophie's character and how her story plays into this amazing world. Sophie is cursed at the beginning of the film and immediately leaves her home out of shame. She is then swept into Howl's story by chance. Howl is a powerful wizard during a time when powerful wizards are being called to battle. However, Howl doesn't want to fight. We're given snippets of lore but ultimately Sophie is the main character and we only witness what she does. There seemed to be so much more ambition beyond the scope of Sophie's plot line, which was the weakest aspect for me. I'm not saying the film is a disappointment because I did enjoy it and I do recommend it. I just wanted so much more than I was given. Almost like I was cheated out of the real story that we only see develop in the background. It's just that Sophie isn't interested in war.

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