Producers: Toho, Licri, Kôdansha, Nikkatsu
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Writers: Hajime Isayama (manga), Yûsuke Watanabe, Tomohiro Machiyama (screenplay)
Featuring: Haruma Miura, Kiko Mizuhara, Kanata Hongô
Release Date: Out Now – North America/ Release Date And Cert To Be Confirmed – UK
The long-anticipated Japanese live-action film Attack on Titan, the first part of a two-movie saga, takes the kaiju threat and brings it up close and personal in the most violent way possible.
Mankind is under siege by Titans, aptly named giant human-looking blathering idiots who eat people like chicken tenders. After 100 years they’re back and it’s up to three good-looking young heroes Eren (Haruma Miura), Mikasa (Kiko Mizuhara) and Armin (Kanata Hongô) to save the last of humanity in a tri-walled city.
The saga is intended for young audiences reared on manga and anime. But since this version is not only true to the story but to the graphics as well, fans of either original version will be satisfied. Given past failures to make live-action anime, this is no small feat. I’m looking at you, Dragon Ball and Avatar the Last Airbender.
And like the previous incarnations of the story, you need a strong stomach to get through it. This is no Godzilla knocking over buildings. Attack on Titan is visceral and relentless: scene after scene is filled with Titans repeatedly biting people in half, tearing them limb from limb, stepping on them and spitting pools of blood. Indeed mankind, in Attack on Titan, has become an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Attack on Titan isn’t the type of film that teases the monster for an hour and then just gives you a passing glimpse. Just 12 minutes in appears the biggest, baddest Titan ever, complete with close-ups of a face oozing smoke.
Still, for all its flash and occasional poetry Attack on Titan is still just a juvenile action and adventure serial manga brought to life, a typical Japanese melodramatic monster movie with plenty of screaming mobs running around, scared children, trampled pedestrians and anguished survivors.
But film looks great doing it. Subtle coloring is effective: The almost chromatic muted pallets inside the wall reflect the dirt street-dwelling people’s misery. Likewise there’s nice camera work with some interesting angles. The CGI for the monsters and the flying trapeze-like Titan-killers is generally good, but still endures the occasional fake-looking effect.
Ultimately the pacing suffers from an editorial decision: Most of the important events of Attack on Titan will take place in the next movie. The cut-off for this installment is a major reveal about one of the characters. It’s a good place to stop, but it means that all the stuff before it has to be drawn out too long. And watching a convoy of trucks driving here isn’t exactly Mad Max-level thrilling.
Overall Attack on Titan is a crazy, and fun, popcorn ride. And the best is yet to come in the finale Attack on Titan: End of the World.
Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker