Howl's Moving Castle
Buena Vista International | Release Date: June 10, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Though it's difficult to work out what's going on, it's never boring. Read full review
100
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
An organic, childlike wonder, fabulously unpredictable and seethingly inventive. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
You run across animation this ingenious about as often as a moving castle comes your way. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Perfect for anyone with a youthful heart and a rich imagination. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Parse it any way you like, Miyazaki's gifts as an animator place him in a category of his own. To see his latest film is to be somehow reminded of Italians who could hear Verdi's operas as soon as they were sung or English readers who could experience the novels of Dickens episode by episode. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The movie's dreamlike spaces and characters are sometimes worthy of Lewis Carroll. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Howl's Moving Castle is one animated epic that has it all: poetic intensity, potent storytelling, vivid and surprising characters, and intoxicating powers of visual imagination. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
It's one of the best and strangest films of Miyazaki's career. Read full review
100
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Howl's Moving Castle has the logic of a dream: behind every door lie multiple realities, one more astonishing than the next. Read full review
100
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The plot is pretty convoluted, but Miyazaki has a very good handle on it and lavishes his customary heart, humor, and inventiveness on every situation he depicts. Read full review
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A picture from an old man working at the top of his game. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The worldview, the sense of childlike fun shaded with adult melancholy, and the joyful, serene attention to visual oddity and wordless beauty could only be made in Japan. And, specifically, made by Hayao Miyazaki. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Movie magic is only as powerful as the imagination that casts it. Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki's imagination is the most creative in animated filmmaking. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
The perfect e-ticket for a flight of fancy into a world far more gorgeous than our own. The film doesn't halve itself to appeal to two generations. At its best, it turns all moviegoers into innocent kids, slack-jawed with wonder. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Another soulful gem from the peerless Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Sophie, in both her incarnations, joins an impressive sisterhood of Miyazaki heroines, whose version of girl power presents a potent alternative to the mini-machismo that dominates American juvenile entertainment. Not that children are the only viewers likely to be haunted and beguiled by Howl's Moving Castle - all that is needed are open eyes and an open heart. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A moveable feast of delights.
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Ken Tucker
In the best moments of Howl's Moving Castle and in his extraordinary body of work, Miyazaki teaches his viewers more valuable lessons. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
There's a word for the kind of comic, dramatic, romantic, transporting visions Miyazaki achieves in Howl's: bliss. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Clever and often enchanting. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
The tireless volley of ideas and inventions make this a delight that should connect with kids and adults in both dubbed and original-language versions. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Miyazaki's animated adaptation of Jones' book is a charming and thoroughly absorbing treat. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
You'll gladly surrender to the whole gorgeous muddle. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
Because of its convolutions, Howl's Moving Castle isn't quite as transporting as "Spirited Away." But it's a moving bridge between his lyrical fancies and his outrage. Miyazaki is like a soulful cartographer of the soul, mapping our inner landscape, leaving us bedazzled. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
It is almost inevitable that Miyazaki, often compared to C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling, should have found in Diana Wynne Jones a kindred spirit. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Miyazaki may not have achieved the level of "Spirited Away," but he's still ahead of the curve. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A richly inventive, slightly eerie animated movie from Japan. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
The story, which also involves an asthmatic dog and a scarecrow, is more accessible than "Spirited Away" but less transporting than that Oscar-winning masterpiece. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The filmmaker's obsessions have got the better of him. That said, I can't recommend the film highly enough, since bad Miyazaki is still leagues better than anyone else. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
A wise and wonderful parable. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
With its bold screen-filling imagery, this is definitely a movie to be relished on the big screen. Read full review
70
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
While Howl’s Moving Castle is far from perfect, it’s still a very good movie. It’s just not a great one. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The voice acting, from new Batman Bale to the almost unrecognizable Bacall is fine – even Crystal reigns in his usual Borscht Belt bravado – if a little plain. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
While the movie contains delights and inventions without pause and has undeniable charm, while it is always wonderful to watch, while it has the Miyazaki visual wonderment, it's a disappointment, compared to his recent work. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Miyazaki's movies are as stunning as they are confounding. Read full review
60
EmpireStaff (Not credited)
Just as Miyazaki seemed on the verge of properly crossing over, he serves up an anime riddle wrapped in an enigma - though with all his usual charm, wit and hand-drawn beauty. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The plot of Howl's Moving Castle meanders so listlessly that its details become less and less charming. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie made almost no sense whatever to me. I literally could not follow it, even as I was dazzled by it. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie is practically incomprehensible. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Miyazaki, like an evil sorcerer, has plucked the heart out of Jones's story and left it there to die. Read full review
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