Delayed Reaction: Howl's Moving Castle

The Pitch: From the director of Spirited Away...oh, that's all you needed to know? OK.

A young girls is turned into an old woman by a witch and teams with a wizard named Howl who has a castle that moves.

I'm slowly working my way through Hayao Miyazaki's movies. I've seen Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Now it's time for Howl's Moving Castle. And, in short, I felt about the same about it as the other movies: very imaginative. Great characters and inventiveness. However, I didn't quite connect with it.

I'm very aware that I have limitations as a movie watcher. A lot of it has to do with familiarity. My hope is that if I watch enough of something, I'll recognize more of what makes that thing great. That's my approach to Miyazaki or Japanese films in general. I'm not there yet. I did like the movie. I'm just not used to that style of storytelling...

...Yeah, that's about all I have to say. I didn't take a lot of notes while watching this movie. Nothing in particular comes to mind. I like how all the characters are so different. Like, a step or two short of how all the characters in TheLego Movie belong in different movies. An wizard, a fallen star, a scarecrow, a young girl trapped in an old body. It's a nice and weird mix. Maybe by the time I get to My Neighbor Totoro or Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, I'll have more to say.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend