MOVIE REVIEW: ATTACK ON TITAN



31/2/5

A hundred years from now creatures called TITANS had destroyed the world, pushing humanity behind the giant walls. Eren Jaeger is twenty something young man who dreams of one day leaving his home country and see beyond the walls. He does not believe in the existence of the Titans. But that is all about to change as the wall is suddenly breached, letting the monstrous creatures in…

Attack on Titan is an incredibly popular manga and anime series and created a huge following all around the world. While movie remains true to the story’s major check points, it re-imagines the original plot in many ways. Just like in the source material, we get the usual trio of young, wide-eyed innocent friends, who face unimaginable horror sand have to become a part of the fullscale war against the dangers they don’t fully understand. But the movie leaves out most of melodramatic moments, focusing on action and horror.

This year’s MAD MAX showed us the new ways of establishing characters and conflicts through action, but this is not what happened in ATTACK ON TITAN. The young actors stumble awkwardly into their roles of cliché characters: a hero, a hero’s side kick, a hero’s girlfriend and so on.  The show stealers here are monstrous TITANS. While using plenty of CGI TOHO studios made a decision to use real people (similarly it happened in the early GODZILLA and GAMERA movies).  Titans look extremely realistic, but also weird, as if child’s awkward drawings had come to life. The kills are very gory with tons of CGI blood splattered across the screen and as a horror movie ATTACK ON TITAN is quite unique.  But the action is stalling a little - the flying devices the soldiers use to battle TITANS may have worked in the animation series, but hardly seem realistic in this live action adaptation. Coming unchanged from the pages of the original manga, these weapons just do not seem practical enough and should have been re-imagined a little to make them more believable.

If you look at ATTACK ON TITAN independently from its original source, you will get a rather “cool” movie, a sort of Japanese “WALKING DEAD” with giant zombies. For the unprepared the movie’s ending is a “jaw dropper”. The crazy twist will be left unexplained, so get ready to see the second film.


Overall ATTACK ON TITAN is a rather interesting horror movie, with some innovative technics and style, but it lacks “the epic feel” that was expected from the beloved anime and manga, and can hardly stand alone without its follow up to be released later this year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We'll End Up Together - Nous Finirons Ensemble (French Movie Review)

Image
10/10 Max has a sixtieth birthday coming up. The problem is he is broke, divorced and depressed. When a group of his best friends show up at his doorstep to help him celebrate, he reluctantly agrees to spend a few days with them, but won’t explain what’s going on in his personal life. When ones darkest moments come, will friendship conquer all? Seven years after the breakout success of the film Little White Lies (Les Petits Mouchoirs) comes the long anticipated sequel and it is worth the wait. The success of WE’LL END UP TOGETHER is not in its rather predictable plot, but the chemistry on screen, the characters that we recognise ourselves and our friends in, and the amazing warm atmosphere that makes one believe there’s no problem a good dinner with friends won’t sort out.  Written and directed by much loved French actor and director  Guillaume Canet this movie feels like a welcome return home to those who have seen the original and will also welcome new viewership - the film c
Read more

KOREAN MOVIE REVIEW: MEMOIR OF A MURDERER

Image
8/10 Byung-su is an elderly veterinarian who has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He has a caring daughter who does all she can to make his life easier, and a policemen friend whose name Byung-su forgets from time to time. He also goes to a poetry club (in order to keep his mind exercised) where a lonely widow makes advances at him. But there’s one thing that sets Byung-su apart from the other senior citizens of his little town – he is a serial killer.  When a new wave of killings begin Byung-su starts to suspect that a young man who is dating his daughter is the culprit. Trying to keep the remains of his memories together Byung-su writes extensive journals. But what if his memories are actually real? Losing his grip on reality he goes head to head with the new serial killer in order to protect the only life he cares about in the world – his daughter’s. Before Dexter came around Koreans had excelled in creating charismatic killers as protagonists of the films
Read more

MSFF: DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES (MUERTE EN BUENOS AIRES)

Image
3 1/2 /5 It's year 1980 and we are in Buenos Aires. The wealthy gay man is murdered  and inspector Chaves is on the case. In order to find the culprit he has to plunge into the world of gay nightclubs, drugs and sex. But what is it with the young and handsome officer Gomes, who was the first on the crime scene, and seems to place himself with ease as a mole into a gay community? Is he trying to catch the killer? Or hiding something? As suspicions arise, Chaves is haunted by the feelings he does not understand. Will the fatal attraction to a younger man help him to solve the case, or be his undoing? First time director Natalie Meta is "spot on" on the upbeat atmosphere of the 80s without too much expense. She cleverly uses the pop tunes, over-the-top clothes and many other ingredients to recreate the time. The murder mystery is secondary, and the movie is focused on the relationship between the two men, full of innuendoes and mistrust. The very simple cinema
Read more