Last year, people all over the world were blown away by the series, "Attack on Titan", which was based off the manga by Hajime Isayama. The manga was a huge commercial success in Japan, selling 52.5 volumes as of July 2015, which inevitably led to the critically acclaimed anime series with the same title by "Death Note" director Tetsurō Araki. And after much anticipation, rumors have been circulating about a Japanese live-action remake of the new series coming to theaters in the near future. Well, the rumors were true as Toho Studios entered production of a two-part adaptation of "Attack on Titan" soon after the anime ended its first season. The news and trailers of the live-action film even spread to the U.S. and was, unsurprisingly, met with mixed emotions by fans and critics. Now that the first part of the film is out, how does the future of "Attack on Titan" look? As dead as the corpses the Titans are eating.
"Attack on Titan", based on the manga by Hajime Isayama, stars Haruma Miura, Kiko Mizuhara, Kanata Hongō, and Satomi Ishihara and is directed by Shinji Higuchi. The plot, like in the manga/anime, centers around Eren Yeager who joins the military, along with his friends Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, to fight against humanoid monster known as Titans. However, as the battle against the Titans ensues, more is unearthed about the Titans as the military force begins to discover more and more secrets about the Titans and their own government that they probably should've not known. Although there is a clear effort and passion that is being put into this film (at least from a directing and acting stand point), it pains me to say this remake of "Attack on Titan" doesn't hold a candle to the original manga/anime it's based on. There are some aspects that work in this film and make it shine, at times, but most of the film is a dull drag that seems more like a shadow of the critically acclaimed anime, rather than a live-action adaptation. Clearly, the producers and screenwriters of the film had no idea what they were doing with the project, while the director and cast of the film tried their hardest to make it the best that they possibly could. Unfortunately, their hard work did not pay off entirely.
Haruma Miura, as one of the best young actors currently in the Japanese film industry, shines above the dull screenplay as the main character, Eren Yeager. Although he does not look the part, he captures the pain and struggle of the troubled youth very well. Not once did I ever doubt Miura's acting chops when it was announced that he would be playing the main protagonist of the film and boy was I right. He nails the role of Yeager and brings something else to his character as well. While his strong sense of revenge and anguish towards the Titans is not explored as deeply as it is in the manga/anime, Miura was able to ascend the shallow screenplay he was given and was able to add something new and fresh to the character, making the film bearable to sit through. He continues to do great work and "Attack on Titan" is no exception. Miura was strong, motivated, confident, angsty, and tough (emotionally and physically). He was everything you wanted Eren Yeager to be and more.
One of the best aspects of this film was Kiko Mizuhara as Mikasa Ackerman, who is the love interest of Eren Yeager. At first, I wasn't entirely sold on her taking the role of Mikasa when it was first announced she would be playing the part, however as I was watching the film, I quickly began seeing Mikasa Ackerman and not Kiko Mizuhara. She blends into the material with grace and ease and was easily one of the main highlights of this film. Although much about her character has been changed in this live action adaptation (we'll get to some of those changes in a moment), Mizuhara was still able to bring humanity, badassery, and kindness in the role of Mikasa Ackerman, one of the anime's best female characters in recent years.
The rest of the cast is more or less a hit-or-miss cast. While some members of the cast were amazing in their respective roles, others were not so great. Two stand out performances among the ensemble cast were Satomi Ishihara as Zoë Hange and Nanami Sakuraba as Sasha Blouse, who played their respective characters to near perfection. Ishihara was able to bring that insane, strong and comical stupidity of Hange that we know and love while Sakuraba brought some much needed comic relief with the always hungry Potato Girl. Sadly enough, outside of these two lovely ladies, most of the cast were either miscast or missed the mark entirely. For example, Kanata Hongō as Armin Arlert truly missed the mark on what made Armin's character in the manga/anime so great while Takahiro Miura who plays Jean Kirstein desperately tried to look tough in the film while Kirstein in the manga/anime always looked tough, even if he wasn't tough in the inside. These miscasted actors were placed in a no-win scenario and some were clearly not cast through any audition process as it is seems extremely obvious that the producers wanted to choose TV and pop music idols instead of real actors. It was a grave disappointment seeing these actors play characters they were not meant to play, outside of Ishihara and Sakuraba who were both great in their respective roles.
One of the most risky things about making a live-action adaptation of "Attack on Titan" is the special effects that is required to create this fantastical world filled with nightmarish horrors that will haunt you in your sleep. While the mix of practical and computer graphic effects in the film were not as bad as I thought they would be, they are still not on par with something that should be coming out this year (or am I just being spoiled by watching too many Hollywood blockbusters?). The Colossal Titan does look convincing enough but some of the other normal sized Titans do look rather silly, which is not a good thing. There was even a massive baby Titan that sadly looked more funny than it did scary. While the manga/anime was able to combine creepy with slightly comical in their Titan designs, the film tries to too hard to look like the anime, it comes across as extremely fake and extremely lackluster. This could be some of Japan's best special effects but it still needs some work. A little more rendering and a little more time to perfect the art.
As I mentioned earlier, this "Attack on Titan" does make a few radical changes that will make a lot of fans, including myself, pretty mad. Without spoiling these changes, the screenwriter had the audacity to change some of the most interesting character dynamics from the manga/anime into something that a 3rd grader would write. And because these character interactions were altered completely, it affects the film plot and coherence. The film also tries to cram 6+ episodes of plot into a 2 hours film, making the film, at times, does feel disjointed and convoluted. When seeing the film, expect some major character interaction changes that may or may not piss you off.
Overall, I am rather disappointed in the film, but almost all of the problems I have with the film comes from its screenplay so my boss, director Shinji Higuchi, is not entirely to blame. The 4 actors I listed above were great in their respective roles and some of the effects and cinematography are impressively done, but the unnecessary changes made to the story and character interactions made several moments in the film almost unbearable. The blood and gore in this film is relentless and it's great. Sadly I have to give "Attack on Titan" a generous 5 out or 10. The 2nd part of the film, "Attack on Titan: End of the World", is coming out in September so we'll see how the sequel holds up.
Go see the film in IMAX 4D, IMAX, and 2D if you're in Japan!
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