Yes, there are moments of great beauty here, but boy, the story could have used some editing.
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06/27/05
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Howl's Moving Castle (2005)
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Reviews Counted:144
Fresh:123
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Exquisitely illustrated by master animator Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle will delight children with its fantastical story and touch the hearts and minds of older viewers as well.
Theatrical Release:Jun 10, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $4,520,887
Synopsis: Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") takes moviegoers on an amazing new animated adventure that celebrates the power of love to transform and the resiliency of the human... [More]
Starring: Emily Mortimer, Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
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Reviews for Howl's Moving Castle
While the plot of Howl’s Moving Castle doesn’t always take off, Miyazaki’s flights of artistic fancy dazzle, frame by exhilarating frame.
06/27/05
The story ... carries a weak narrative thread that gets lost in the shuffle of magic and mayhem.
06/27/05
Far from being a masterpiece of storytelling like its predecessor was, it is instead a perfectly acceptable, pleasantly diverting fairy tale for old and young alike.
06/26/05
It's not Miyazaki's best work, but it is leagues beyond any traditional 2-D animation out of 3-D-mad Hollywood lately, and more beguiling than anything Disney's done in ages.
06/25/05
A gorgeous, life-affirming piece whose anti-war message is particularly timely.
06/24/05
Emphatically passionate and fraught with greater meaning.
06/23/05
The visual power of Miyazaki’s animation is as strong as ever, but it’s all for naught when you can’t make heads or tails of the story on screen.
06/22/05
Glitches in storytelling and stunt casting cannot overshadow the wondrous sights that Miyazaki doles out for our approval.
06/22/05
The story works on many levels, including as an anti-war fable, but its central theme is about the matchless power of love.
06/21/05
While Howl's Moving Castle is far from perfect, it's still a very good movie.
06/21/05
Miyazaki's expertise at drafting, along with his eye for detail and ability to infuse a story with heart, results in a wonderfully entertaining film.
06/20/05
Howl's Moving Castle moves -- in short, choppy, jumpy jerks that will never make anyone forget how fluid the truly great hand-drawn cartoons look by comparison.
06/17/05
With such an unfocused, impenetrable center, the film grows dull.
06/17/05
So richly detailed and colorful that one almost aches from the beauty.
06/17/05
Top CriticIt's entrancing, with more magical and laugh-out-loud moments than any other animated feature so far this year.
06/17/05
The world's leading animator has come back with a movie that's even more complicated and just as visually dazzling and heartfelt.
06/17/05
It's almost a disappointment that a Miyazaki film engages the eyes better than the brain, but it's hard to be disappointed with images this radiant and gorgeous.
06/17/05
I've seen the best anime movies of my generation destroyed by bad writing.
06/17/05
Not only flies over the head of anyone whose expectations have been stunted by animated Hollywood fare, it soars.
06/17/05
Latest News for Howl's Moving Castle
August 21, 2008:
Japanese Audiences Flocking to Miyazaki's Latest 
He delighted audiences with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle -- and now director Hayao Miyazaki is doing it all over again with his latest film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the... More...
March 20, 2007:
Will Miyazaki's Next Film Be His Last?
It's been speculated that legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki will retire after the release of his next film, "Ponyo on a Cliff," but now it looks like we'll have at... More...
October 19, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Flags" Flies High; "The Prestige" Is Magic; "Flicka" Is A Pretty Good Ride; "Marie Antoinette" Spared Critical Guillotine
This week at the movies, we've got a complex tale of heroism (Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers," starring Ryan Phillippe), a story of dueling magicians... More...
October 03, 2006:
Miyazaki Prepares Next Animation Classic
Let's face it: When the director of "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," and a whole bunch of other brilliant pieces of animation announces that he's about... More...
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