Man I've seen this movie several times and have always walked away satisfied with the viewing, but I don't know...maybe I was having a bad day or maybe it's because I'm now familiar with the caliber of Miyazaki's work, but I really disliked this film. It was still a great film compared to most anything else, but for Miyazaki I thought this was really lacking.
Things I didn't like about HMC:
1. The Ending!
I know we went over this in class, but yeah...really? That lame tacked on bullshit everyone gets what they want everything is restored to normal and they fall in love. Plus Turnip Head is a prince...what??? That really threw me for a loop and bothered me.
2. Howl's Transformation
What...I don't buy it. One second he's this spoiled, immature, annoying brat and then Sophie confesses her love and suddenly he's a changed man...I don't think so. Maybe I'm interpreting this incorrectly, but there was nothing that happened in between one day him being a baby and the next him standing up and taking charge. And all because of Sophie! This reminds me of common Hollywood romance films that depict pathetic women who waste time waiting around for some guy, who she will somehow change so he is able to grow up and achieve his full potential...a false ideology which has now resulted in a mass amount of single 20-something year old women who are just waiting for the right man for them to change to come along...gross gross GROSS!
3. The themes were not as complex as other Miyazaki's.
Yeah identity and the idea of belonging or family, but usually a Miyazaki film includes this theme as well as technology vs. nature, industrialized society and the individual's place, dealing with spirituality in an industrialized world, magic and aiding the individual, class structures, isolation, maturation, consumerism. Yeah some of these were included in HMC, but I was disappointed that they weren't explored as explicitly as they were in his other films.
4. The light people
The spirit stars or something that dance around in a circle in the sky...what?
Those are my number one complaints, but by listing these complaints it also makes me think of some of the things I did enjoy about the film:
1. The animation
Freaking beautiful. The level of expertise in the drawings was really magnificent and breathtaking at times. One of my favorites is the castle itself. Good stuff. Howl's room with all the trinkets. The field cottage place.
2. Howl's look
When he has blonde hair he is absolutely David Bowie circa 1989 Labyrinth. Sexy.
3. The idea of time...what's the word...I don't know I can't think of the word.
But the whole time warping of sorts with Sophie moving into Howl's past. Which is also prevalent in Spirited Away at the end when it appears that much time has passed since they entered the tunnel.
4. The dog
Love that dog spy. So cute and wheezy.
5. Sophie's Spell
I liked that Sophie was transformed into an old woman and throughout the film would morph into becoming younger and younger, but at the end her hair remains gray. This is the kind of "deassurance" and un-perfect ending that a girl can get behind!
Anyways...yea yea yea
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