Attack on Titan Part 1 - Live action film review

by Gaby

Last night I saw the Attack on Titan Part 1 film at the Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas, TX.  My 7:00 showing started at 7:30 due to projector issues they said, but all in all we were able to get the movie started.

If you are familiar with the anime Attack on Titan, I highly suggest that you put that anime aside when you watch this movie.  There are a good number of differences between the anime and the live action  movie that some people may find uncomfortable.

Titan and Mikasa trying to save baby

However, to me as a movie itself it was all right, it was very Godzilla horror movie almost. The Titans seemed a lot like real people with makeup and erased private parts walking around a little town.  I think the CGI magic could have been a little better, but not where it was distracting.

In this film the main protagonits Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, already look like they are teenagers when the movie starts, and it seemed very fast paced from the time that we see the collosal titan peer over the fence to the time that the protagonists are already fighting titans. Of course it has to be since they are crunching an anime into a movie but it really removes a lot of good character development.

Eren enlists in the army

In this movie Eren is a bit of a hot head fighter, always getting kicked out of his jobs for fighting, Mikasa seems to be the lady always by his side making sure he is okay. and Armin is just the best friend third wheel.  One day Eren decides to be all bad-ass and go close to the wall where people are forbidden to be, next thing you know a colossal titan peers over the wall and a small hole in the wall leads to titans fleeing inside the town. Eren and Mikasa become separated in the initial titan attack. Eren and Armin, believing Mikasa was eaten by a titan, enlist in the army and two years later they set out on a mission and then poof she appears out of nowhere as a total bad-ass herself who had been training with Shikishima on how to kill Titans.

All in all this movie is a good movie on its own, but when you try to compare it to the anime it doesn't do it justice.

I will do a couple of comparisons below, they are some pretty big spoilers, so you have been warned. So continue reading if you are okay with spoilers and comparisons.

1.  Eren's Parents - In the anime Eren has parents when he is a kid. His dad sets out on a trip and his mom is left behind. When the Titans attack she is crushed by the debris of the house and then eaten as Eren is being carried away by Hannes.    In the live action movie, Eren states that his parents died when he was young and he has no recollection of them.

2. Mikasa - In the anime, Mikasa is portrayed as a tough girl who no one wants to mess with as a child. In the live action, she starts out as Eren's love interest or  best friend basically.
Also in the anime Mikasa and Eren never become separated during the Titan initial attack, but in the live action Eren thinks that Mikasa was eaten by a titan and believes she is dead for two years.

3. The Walls. - The entire layout of the walls is different. In the anime they are circular with walls within walls, but in the live action, they are sporadic its very strange.

4. Character changes - One of the biggest changes that is the most obvious is of course that all the characters are portrayed by Japanese actors so bye bye to the blond hair and blue eyes we got accustomed to seeing on Armin.   Some names also got changed, for example Hannes is now portrayed by this character named Souda, Hanji is now Hans but her character is the same basically,
Captain Levi seems to have been replaced by a Shikishima who seems to have some sort of love interest in Mikasa.  There were also a couple of character additions, like Hiana, who enlisted in the army so that they could pay child support, or the lovestruck couple who wanted to be together so they enlisted together.

The Best parts of the movie

1. Potato Girl Sasha. She was great comedic relief.

2. Eren fights with Jean and it was pretty cool.

3. Costuming and set display was pretty good, kudos on cinematography.  Pretty good for a live action anime.