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Disney and Pixar firmly entrenched on the side of CGI for their animated
efforts, it looks like Japan and the FOX Network are the last bastions
of hand drawn animation. Perhaps the most revered name from this old
school is Hayao Miyazaki, best known in the US for "Princess
Mononoke" and the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away".
Miyazaki's latest effort is "Howl's Moving Castle", and like
his other films, there is an astonishing level of detail to behold, but
unfortunately the film is lacking elsewhere.
The first image we see is of the titular castle, a
clanking, lumbering behemoth that looks more like a giant garage sale
propelled by metal chicken legs than your typical fairy tale castle. It
is a wondrous contraption, complete with interior spaces that can be
changed at will, a magic door that can open to any location, and a
wisecracking fire demon named Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal) that
provides the power to run the castle. The lord of the castle is a young,
vain and narcissistic wizard named Howl (voiced by Christian Bale,
"The
Machinist"), who is fleeing an evil witch known as the Witch of
the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall).
One day while strolling through town, Howl rescues
young Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer, "The
51st State") from the improper advances of some
lecherous soldiers. It turns out Howl himself is being pursued by the
minions of the evil Witch Of The Waste at that very moment, forcing them
to flee into the air. Later, Sophie's life gets more complicated when
the Witch of the Waste, seeing her as a rival for the affections of the
dashing Howl, casts a spell that instantly changes Sophie into a 90-year
old crone (now voiced by Jean Simmons). Determined to break the curse,
Sophie takes off into the Wastes in search of the elusive Howl.
"Howl's Moving Castle" is the first time
since 1989's "Kiki's
Delivery Service" that Miyazaki has directed material he didn't
write himself. Adapted from a children's story of the same name by
British author Diana Wynne Jones, it is apparent that something was lost
in the translation from book to movie. The visuals and content place the
story somewhere between the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen,
but due to the rather disparate thematic worlds that collide within
"Howl", the story ends up being too unfocused.
"Howl's Moving Castle" is also too
inconsistent, and the characters change form with nearly the same
frequency as the surroundings. While this is cool at first, it
eventually serves to dilute the emotional impact of the story. By the
5th time that Sophie changes from old to young and back again, the
gravity of her predicament becomes questionable. Also, it doesn't help
that Sophie's constant age transitions don't seem to be following any
consistent rules. Oftentimes it feels like we've entered into the middle
of a much larger story, and not being familiar with the source material,
I can't say if the blame lies with the original presentation or with
Miyazaki's adaptation.
The other area that disappoints is the voice acting.
It's not that the actors do a bad job, because they don't, but rather
they don't seem to be performing with very much gusto. Christian Bale
("Batman
Begins") is particularly disappointing as the titular Howl.
Bale's soothing baritone would seem to be a natural fit for the
character, but the actor's delivery is too droll and virtually devoid of
emotion. Bacall and Mortimer both do serviceable work, but neither makes
their characters really stand out. Billy Crystal does quite well as the
fast talking Calcifer by virtue of not being Robin Williams or Eddie
Murphy, and Jean Simmons stands out as old Sophie, a role that she
imbues with a humorous 'been there, done that' quality that befits her
character's crusty old appearance.
Much of the
film's last third feels like it's treading water, as if Miyazaki seems
unsure of how to handle the film's underlying anti-war message. What we
end up with is something non-committal, as Miyazaki gets caught tap
dancing around the issue. Soon, Miyazaki realizes that he had spent too
much time spinning his wheels and tries to tie up a myriad of loose ends
within the last 5 minutes, resulting in what seems to be a meandering
journey that abruptly ends with a fairly unsatisfying conclusion.
Still, despite all its flaws, there are more than
enough visual curiosities in "Howl's Moving Castle" to keep
the viewer engaged, or at least distract the audience from the
lackluster storyline.
(Note:
The above review is based on the English dubbed version.)
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