When you regard someone's work with high esteem, your expectation of
his/her work goes up. But what happens if his/her work does not live up
to your expectation? Utter disappointment and maybe betrayal. Well,
that's how I felt after I saw "Star Wars: Phantom Menace" a few years
ago. Last night, it was Howl's Moving Castle, although it was more of a disappointment and no betrayal.
Howl's Moving Castle, which was adapted from an English novel by Diana
Wynne Jones, is still a great animation with delightful visual textures
and out-of-this-world imagination. But compared to Miyazaki's
recent
works, this movie is a disappointment. The cause of my disappointment
lies in the continuity and pace of the story. Like Roger Ebert, I
found that the weird and incoherent events and characters introduced in
unlikely parts of the story disrupted the continuity of the plot.
Halfway through the film, the
plot becomes unclear and I found myself getting a little impatient even
for a Miyazaki movie. The worst part (spoiler alert)
was the plot development in the last 5 minutes of the movie. I rank it to
almost to the same level of corniness as that of the dialogue between
Skywalker and Amidala in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones." Overall, I
still like the movie because I am sucker for Miyazaki's work just I am
for Lucas's. Would I recommend the movie? Well, only if you are a
fan of Anime or Miyazaki. I would recommend Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke if you haven't seen any of Miyazaki's films.