Howl's Moving Castle revolves around a young girl called Sophie who owns a modest hat shop in a quaint city. Shortly after the beginning of the movie she runs into a strange wizard named Howl while on her way to visit her sister. The witch of the waste, who is pursuing Howl visits her hat shop and subsequently turns her into an old, decrepit woman. From here Sophie attempts to find a way to break her curse by traveling to the wastes, only to come across a strange moving castle where she meets Howl again, she disguises herself as a cleaning lady and the two embark on an adventure.
It should be noted that Howl's Moving Castle is actually based on a book by a certain British writer, however Miyazaki made it his own while keeping true to the original material, I haven't read the book myself, however I'm sure those who have will find the movie just as delightful.
The movie has all of the Miyazaki trademarks, lots of airships, warring nations, dark undertones, and these things never get old, no matter how much they are used. The plot is very enjoyable, some have criticized that it was somewhat simple, however there's nothing wrong with that, it's imaginative, and while it might not have the most complex plot in the world, it's a plot which will engage you nevertheless, I can't personally see a single flaw.
The animation, as you'd expect from Ghibli is outstanding, it's so fluid and smooth, the scenery is beautiful, and it has a really distinctive charm. Like most Ghibli movies it has an extremely immersive world, the streets, cities, characters are all full of so much life. I can't really see it being animated in any other way.
As I touched on when describing the animation, the characters are so full of life, they never bore you for one second. Particularly one of my favourite characters has to be Calcifer, who is a fire demon that exists in the form of a small flame, he's an absolute delight to watch and a magnificent creation, that being said the other characters deserve just as much merit and we end up liking them from the very beginning.
Here's an interesting fact, Howl was actually voiced by Christian Bale in the English dub, I however have not seen the English dub, therefore I cannot comment.
The music is absolutely beautiful, and accompanies the film perfectly, the voice acting itself is just as good, the actors are extremely talented, and again Calcifer really shines quite brightly in this area, his voice work was amazing.
Ok, yes, I've given it the full 10/10, top marks, perhaps I'm exaggerating but I can't find a way to fault this film whatsoever, it's a delight to watch and extremely engaging, so much that you could watch it again and again. You're likely to enjoy this film no matter who you are, Howl's Moving Castle has something for everyone.
