2004 / Hayao Miyazaki > I had high expectations for the next Miyazaki project after Spirited Away, which ranks as my favorite animated film of all time, and fortunately Howl’s Moving Castle does not disappoint. Unfortunately, however, it fails to surpass the near perfection of its predecessor.

The strengths are all understandable: A decently complex, unpredictable storyline dealing with fastastic elements that get your inner child all worked up while wooing and pleasing your ADD-exceling, older self. The characters are imaginative, and the animation is vivid.

But the flaws, in the end, pull it back and make it ultimately less memorable than most of his other work. Much of the last third of the film felt rushed, the storyline often felt unclear and confusing, and it seems mostly that unless you know the story it’s based on, there is too much left for interpretation that really shouldn’t be. In theory, the only qualifying statement here is that Disney did an incredibly subpar job in coherently doing the English subs, and if that is true, it’s a pity.