In the East there is an expression, “Same same, but different” which seems applicable to the most recent feature film by animation living legend, Hayao Miyazaki. After massive international success with Princess Mononoke (1997) and the Academy Award winning, Spirited Away (2001), his latest film is challenged by the shadow of perhaps unreasonably high expectations. Howl’s Moving Castle was a disappointment visually. Based on the children’s’ fantasy novel of the same name, by Diana Wynne Jones, the sequel to that novel is called “Castle in the Air”, but other than a similar title and concept, there is no connection to Hayao Miyazaki’s infinitely superior film, Castle in the Sky.

If you thought that Spirited Away was hard to follow, with its surreal story line, then just try this one! To get the most out of Howl’s Moving Castle I suggest you check both your expectations and all semblances of logical thinking at the door.

As in the previous works by Miyazaki, there are the recurring themes of “the cycle of the hero”and “transformation and redemption”, which are your typical Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz sort of stuff. While Miyazaki’s standard thread message of environmental conservation is less dominant than usual, this has become replaced by a strong anti- war message. Visually this movie is possibly his weakest yet. While Spirited Away represented his peak in detail and characterizations, Howl’s Moving Castle seems sloppy by comparison, with many figures and images re-hashed from previous films.

Zofi is a quiet, mouse like girl who works in a hat shop. The world in which she lives is a mixture of H.G. Wells’ Victorian England and the Kaiser’s Germany. It is a world shrouded in magic and science with a power structure that is a bit confusing. When one day she is rescued by the magician, Howl, his enemy, The Witch in the Wasteland, transforms her into an old woman. In hope of having the curse lifted, she seeks out Howl and takes up residence in his moving castle as the new cleaning lady. From this point on the film suffers from a lack of cohesion. Nonetheless, it remains just entertaining enough to pull us along to the end.

If you are new to the work of Miyazaki, this is not the one to start with. As for the long time fans, well, lower you expectations so that you can enjoy it as a movie that may not be up to the standards Miyazaki has set and yet is still ahead of what everyone else is doing in many ways. As an animation feature for children it probably has enough to keep them vaguely entertained if not scare the begeebuz out of them, depending on their age and sensitivity.