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REVIEW: Attack on Titan: Part I (Live-Action Movie)

The opening 10 minutes of this thing are goddamn terrifying, it's like they pulled images right out of my nightmares.

I always felt like this could have been the Game of Thrones of the anime/manga world and I was so very disappointed when it was revealed that spoiler[Eren didn't really die. And I felt him becoming a Titan himself was such a stupis twist. It kind of ruined the show/manga for me, I mean it's still good but not as good as it could have been. Does he really die in the film?].

Ah, that's unfortunate. I'm ok with them changing her character but it sounds like with the singular focus on Eren that's described then she's going to become the person he needs to avenge in the story. So its no longer a triad of friends but I'm guessing closer to a single character's revenge story. A little disappointing to hear but I'll have to see it to judge if it was too much for me.

Is this really going to get a limited North American release? I'm so excited to see what mainstream critics like The New York Times will have to say about Attack on Titan! (and I might get a chance to see it in theaters, too).

Zac wrote:

The opening 10 minutes of this thing are goddamn terrifying, it's like they pulled images right out of my nightmares.

Do you mean the part where Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are hanging out on a hill talking about what lies outside the walls? Or did I miss something there?

I'm totally okay with it not being a true adaptation. Actually I think I'm more excited for it as a result

Pipoko wrote:

What were the changes to Mikasa's character? Also, how'd you rank it among the various versions of the story (Manga, Anime)? I recall you basically giving all of them a A, anyway, but just curious. It sounds like a very interesting take on the story that I'd eventually like to check out myself!

Okay, here's the breakdown of Mikasa's new character: spoiler[She's introduced as an extremely sweet and feminine dreamer dressed all in white, and she and Eren don't kiss or anything, but they're definitely romantically attached instead of being friends or family. (Both of Eren's parents are already dead, he's an orphan.) When the Titans attack, Eren gets shoved into a temple with other refugees, while Mikasa goes back for a baby that got knocked out of a woman's hands. As Eren watches from safety, a Titan reaches down to eat Mikasa and the baby, and when he tries to get out and save her, the scared refugees drag him away from the door. By the time he escapes (as all the refugees are also getting eaten), she's disappeared. So Mikasa becomes his motivation to join the Survey Corps, not his dead mother.]

spoiler[Of course, she turns out to be alive in another unit years later, as an elite subordinate of Shikishima, record-breaking titan killer who has the skills and legacy of Levi, but a completely different personality and story purpose. When reunited with Eren, she ignores him completely, consumed only with the desire to kill Titans after being partially eaten and left for dead. (The baby got eaten and she has a giant scar down her torso.) To make matters worse, she's revealed to be Shikishima's sexual subordinate as well. We don't see anything gross, but the movie is not subtle about the insinuation. Eren's "death" ultimately plays out the same way for her, except that she went from completely dismissing him to the "bottled-grief-expressed-as-recklessness" thing instead. But she's definitely being played as a broken and traumatized object of tragedy.] So there you go. Most unfortunate adaptive choice in a movie that's otherwise really smart about the genre change.

While I thoroughly appreciate your analysis and review, as someone whose favorite character (By far) is Mikasa and who has intricately analyzed her within the canon story for a great deal of time, I'm not sure why you feel that she was so mischaracterized in this film. spoiler[Admittedly I have not watched the live action adaptation myself, but going strictly by your original review and analysis in this thread, for me it sounds like rather than experiencing great personal tragedy as a sweet 9-year-old, Mikasa faces it at a slightly older age and still undergoes the same emotional & psychological consequences that Isayama depicted in the manga. The only exception is that she starts out depending on Shikishima a lot more as her pillar rather than Eren, who has apparently joined the legion of people Mikasa cares much less about at first (Which is an accurate detail if you break down her interactions with anyone outside of Eren & Armin early on in manga canon). The fact of the matter is that Mikasa actually isn't written well for the majority of the source material, either. She is that tropey stoic, tough shell shielding a "broken and traumatized object of tragedy" for much of the manga timeline, and while not sexual in nature, she does exist as a dependent of Eren in many ways, acting with recklessness and all. Thankfully, however, in recent chapters we have witnessed her truly opening up and gaining great personality development by way of progressive interactions with more and more characters. And it also paves way for a much healthier relationship between her and Eren later on.

As this is only the first of two movies and also focuses on the early period of the storyline, I'm interpreting the same Mikasa now and anticipating similar development for her later in the 2nd movie. Unless there is truly distasteful or abusive qualities in her relationship with Shikishima, for me it does not deviate from her original nature all that much (Yet).]

JesuOtaku

Thank you so much for your review! I am much more optimistic about this movie now, though the Mikasa bit upset me.
I would really like to know what kind of person this Shikishima is, to be honest. How is he different from Levi, and what exactly is his purpose in the story? Is he the character that is " the pitch-black reflection" of Eren's ideals?


neopolitan icecream

I agree with many of your points. Mikasa in the manga/anime is definitely the sweet innocent girl turned tragic victim, and she clings to Eren out of fear of experiencing more loss. It's possible Mikasa's bond with Shikishima is meant to be a darker version of the same dynamic?.. We'll see.

But like Hawkbit pointed out, the problem with Mikasa's changes is that she's apparently depicted as meek and submissive in her interactions with Shikishima. One reviewer even went as far as describing her as "cowering", "with her tail between her legs". Just... let that sink in. Meek. Submissive. Cowering. Mikasa. These words should never be together in the same sentence!

She is never this in the manga/anime when she's with Eren. She calls him out on his flaws (quite brutally sometimes as we can see when she throws him into a wall in the beginning of the story). She's not afraid to voice her opinions, and she's always blunt and honest with him. She tells Eren's mother about his desire to join the SC even though he asked her to keep silent because she believes informing Carla is for the best. She tells him it's possible he's not cut out to be a solider even though she knows it will upset him and make him angry with her. She tells him she's follow him into Shiganshina during the Trost arc even though he insists that she stay behind, and then she adds she does not need his permission to do what she feels is necessary.

She may be dependent on Eren to a degree, but she's anything but meek and passive.

I'll reserve judgement until I've seen the movie, but I feel really icky about all the implications with regards to Mikasa/Shikishima.

JesuOtaku
Thank you so much for your review! I am much more optimistic about this movie now, though the Mikasa bit upset me.
I would really like to know what kind of person this Shikishima is, to be honest. How is he different from Levi, and what exactly is his purpose in the story? Is he the character that is " the pitch-black reflection" of Eren's ideals?

From what i understand, Shikishima is a vain ass, who is controlling to his underlings and demanding of respect without giving very much in return. He is about as divorced from Levi in every way, except for his skill. So from that point of view, its certainly good that they changed the name.