As a movie, Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” is a sight to behold. As with all Studio Ghibli creations, it is a moving masterpiece. The story is rich, the art is gorgeously detailed and the characters are lovable.
As a movie adaptation, however, I would give Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” one out of four stars Why? Because, as far as I am concerned, Studio Ghibli took a beautiful story, one that was already rich in detail and amusing and heart warming in its own quirky way, and twisted it to suit their idea of a good story.
It’s not that I’m putting Studio Ghibli down – okay. That’s a lie. I am putting Studio Ghibli down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Studio Ghibli. In truth, I think Studio Ghibli creates some of the best animation films ever. I love “Spirited Away” and “Grave of the Fireflies” is one of the few movies to make me cry. “Howl’s Moving Castle” however, does not rank anywhere in my favourites.
Why? Simply because I can hardly recognise the main characters, let alone the plot. The Howl in the book, Diana Wynn Jones’ Howl as she created him, is vain, temperamental, an incurable flirt and prone to sulking. His Sophie is gruff, grumpy, straight forward, impulsive and prone to talking to things. Calcifer, the fire demon, is selfish, tricky, sly, cunning and likes complaining to Howl about Sophie. Michael, Howl’s apprentice, is a boy, yes, but one old enough to have a sweetheart. A sweetheart who, it turns out, is Sophie’s sister, Martha.
And this is yet another reason why I give Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” one star out of four for accurate move adaptation; because there is no mention of Sophie’s two sisters in the movie. They are pretty central to the plot of the book and very central to Sophie’s character. To leave them out is, in my opinion, equivalent to leaving Prince Justin out.
Prince Justin is a missing prince who provides the Witch of the West with a way to get to Howl’s heart. The wizard Sulliman is part of the Witch’s plan as well but he is, very obviously, missing from the movie.
Now, realistically, I know that you can’t put the whole book, every single little incident, into the movie or you’d be watching a three hour long movie. But I believe you can take the basis of a plot and still come up with a movie that is like the book, with a few minor differences. Take the “Harry Potter” movies for example. The first few took the essentials out of the plot and made pretty darn good movies. Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” did not.
But I have to be truthful here: in general, I do not like movie adaptations. Or rather, I cannot watch them because I will be constantly be comparing the plot of the book to the plot of the movie. Granted, I do not make a good movie adaptation viewer. But there are some movie adaptations I liked: The “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy (Legolas, hello!), “Angels and Demons”, “The Da Vinci Code”, and the first two “Harry Potter” movies. Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” isn’t one of them.
If you’ve read the book and watched the movie, then judge me if you want. Maybe you agree with me, may be you don’t. But if you haven’t...well, do one or the other. Don’t do both or you’ll be sorely disappointed. I was.
As a movie adaptation, however, I would give Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” one out of four stars Why? Because, as far as I am concerned, Studio Ghibli took a beautiful story, one that was already rich in detail and amusing and heart warming in its own quirky way, and twisted it to suit their idea of a good story.
It’s not that I’m putting Studio Ghibli down – okay. That’s a lie. I am putting Studio Ghibli down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Studio Ghibli. In truth, I think Studio Ghibli creates some of the best animation films ever. I love “Spirited Away” and “Grave of the Fireflies” is one of the few movies to make me cry. “Howl’s Moving Castle” however, does not rank anywhere in my favourites.
Why? Simply because I can hardly recognise the main characters, let alone the plot. The Howl in the book, Diana Wynn Jones’ Howl as she created him, is vain, temperamental, an incurable flirt and prone to sulking. His Sophie is gruff, grumpy, straight forward, impulsive and prone to talking to things. Calcifer, the fire demon, is selfish, tricky, sly, cunning and likes complaining to Howl about Sophie. Michael, Howl’s apprentice, is a boy, yes, but one old enough to have a sweetheart. A sweetheart who, it turns out, is Sophie’s sister, Martha.
And this is yet another reason why I give Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” one star out of four for accurate move adaptation; because there is no mention of Sophie’s two sisters in the movie. They are pretty central to the plot of the book and very central to Sophie’s character. To leave them out is, in my opinion, equivalent to leaving Prince Justin out.
Prince Justin is a missing prince who provides the Witch of the West with a way to get to Howl’s heart. The wizard Sulliman is part of the Witch’s plan as well but he is, very obviously, missing from the movie.
Now, realistically, I know that you can’t put the whole book, every single little incident, into the movie or you’d be watching a three hour long movie. But I believe you can take the basis of a plot and still come up with a movie that is like the book, with a few minor differences. Take the “Harry Potter” movies for example. The first few took the essentials out of the plot and made pretty darn good movies. Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” did not.
But I have to be truthful here: in general, I do not like movie adaptations. Or rather, I cannot watch them because I will be constantly be comparing the plot of the book to the plot of the movie. Granted, I do not make a good movie adaptation viewer. But there are some movie adaptations I liked: The “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy (Legolas, hello!), “Angels and Demons”, “The Da Vinci Code”, and the first two “Harry Potter” movies. Studio Ghibli’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” isn’t one of them.
If you’ve read the book and watched the movie, then judge me if you want. Maybe you agree with me, may be you don’t. But if you haven’t...well, do one or the other. Don’t do both or you’ll be sorely disappointed. I was.
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