Howl's Moving Castle has a 87% critic rating and a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd, a 8.2/10 on the International Movie Database (IMDB), a 84.64% community approval rating on Kitsu, and a 4.5/5 on Anime Planet. Hayao Miyazaki actually thought that Howl's Moving Castle would do poorly in the United States due to the negative subtext about the Iraq War, but it actually ended up becoming one of the best grossing and one of the most popular Studio Ghibli films in the U.S.The pacing is rather inconsistent due to how quickly the movie often shifts from being a romance to a war film to a fantasy adventure.They're are several plot holes revolving around Sophie's curse and Calcifer being the one to have Howl's heart after it was separated from his body.Speaking of which, the film's main villain, Madam Suliman, is rather poorly developed due to how many of her motives don't make much sense.And the romance between him and Sophie is arguably being hammered-in. Howl can be an inconsistent character at times, as likable as he is.The best part of the movie is its hidden themes. Hayao Miyazaki was disgusted by the United States' participation in the Iraq War in 2003, so he put a lot of subtext about it in the film.The world in this movie is spectacular. Not only the juxtaposition between the normal world with the wizard world, but also the whole look of the movie. It's a nice 19th century period piece mixed with a lot of steam punk machinery.Good soundtrack, as to be expected from films coming from Studio Ghibli.Both of our lead characters, Sophie and Howl, are interesting, likable, entertaining, and have great on screen chemistry with each other.They make every already beautiful scene in the film (due to the film's incredible animation and lovely color palette) pop out all the more. The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, vivid, and detailed. Finds it and becomes his house keeper, she meets Calcifer whos the fire which movea the castle.Such as with Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, and Madam Suliman. This helps to give the story a bit of realism and relatability. Some wizards are selfish and only care for themselves, and some are kind and help the greater good. In this world of magic, the world actually reflects our world and the politics that we live in.Excellent animation, which greatly improves from older Studio Ghibli movies.As the story in it of itself has elements of many different film genres, from an emotional war drama to a charming romance story to a fantasy-pack fantasy adventure. The story is interesting, quirky, fast-paced, fun, and epic.Great voice acting in both the original Japanese version and the English dub (as is the case with the Studio Ghibli films, even someone of the weaker ones).
Now Howl must use all his magical talents to battle the jealous hag and return Sophie to her former youth and beauty. However, the evil Witch of Waste takes issue with their budding relationship and casts a spell on young Sophie, which ages her prematurely.
Sophie has an uneventful life at her late father's hat shop, but all that changes when she befriends wizard Howl, who lives in a magical flying castle.