Howl's Moving Castle's blending of 2D animation and CG firmly solidifies it as a mid-2000s hand-drawn animated affair.

| Oct 7, 2024

20 years later, Howl's Moving Castle is still a thrilling and gorgeous addition to Miyazaki's filmography and will continue to connect with viewers.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 2, 2024

A combination of hand-drawn animation and Miyazaki’s most obvious use of computers appears onscreen, dispelling some of the film’s magic through the excessive presence of the medium’s needless modernization.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 22, 2023

This dazzling vision, despite a rational impossibility, manages to feel in tune with the hyper-utopian version of reality experienced by children, and by those of us who cling fondly to those haughty days of creativity that have long since faded.

| Aug 1, 2023

A wonderful animated film that speaks to the imagination of the viewers in many ways. Gorgeous animation and interesting characters inhabit Miyazaki's wondrous world. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 17, 2021

Unique.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 22, 2021

Whereas Spirited [Away] saw the world through the eyes of a child, Howl sees it through the eyes of an adult who longs to be young again.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 5, 2019

Despite Miyazaki's undoubted gifts for story, character and cute animation, the diverse cultural agendas jar badly.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 26, 2019

I do find it a bit slow... [but] I'm glad I saw it.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 15, 2019

The rich landscapes and colours just jump off the screen at you in the best possible ways. Each character has such unique features and expressions that make them truly stand out.

| Aug 20, 2018

Howl's Moving Castle has the logic of a dream: behind every door lie multiple realities, one more astonishing than the next.

| Mar 13, 2018

One of Hayao Miyazaki's strengths is the sense of wonderment and magic that he's able to bring to his films.

| Oct 18, 2017

The story is almost the least of it, more important is what is beyond the story: genuine emotion, beauty, a meditation on age and love.

| Aug 24, 2017

[Miyazaki] may have made better films than Howl's Moving Castle, but it still exhibits his amazing imagination and astonishing detail.

| Dec 8, 2014

There is little of the magic and Japanese flavour of such Miyazaki masterpieces as Spirited Away.

| Dec 8, 2014

Howl's Moving Castle is Japanese and anime, and therefore automatically more artistic than its US counterparts. The right cultural cachet gives you a lot of leeway.

| Dec 8, 2014

Like Tiepolo, Miyazaki is a winged artist who flies in his own space, taking gravity with him. He can put us into a childish stupor of anticipation, then satisfaction. His vision is so free that it captivates.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 8, 2014

A floatingly delightful fairytale with its heart set on repealing the law of gravity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2014

It is so intriguing.

Full Review | Dec 8, 2014

Miyazaki's vision is an extraordinary one, and Howl's Moving Castle confirms his fascination for transformations, for dangerous journeys and strange adventures.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 8, 2014