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Attack On Titan Live Action Movie – A Bleak Spin on the Series

Attack on Titan swept across the world like the titular Titans in their assault on humanity. Soon, Mikasa, Eren and Armin became household names to anime fans everywhere. Conventions filled with Survey Corps members, all clad in tan and white, their green cloaks draped over their shoulders. It’s a phenomenon  that has spurred one season of anime (season two set to be released in the second half of 2016), countless manga spin offs, a live action film series, video games and merchandise.

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Group cosplay is especially epic with this series. Image courtesy of breakbang.com.

The first of these two films sum up about the first ten or so episodes of the anime. It tells the story of the first assault on the farming district and caps off after a fellow titan offers a bleak ray of hope for the world.

Fans of seeing anime faithfully recreated with all the details intact may not enjoy this version of Attack on Titan. The creators of the live-action film decided to give their own spin to the story and the characters, making vast changes to even the main cast. Even though these changes are painful to followers of the series or manga, they do have a uniqueness that adds to the overall impact the series has established.

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The faces of the Titans will probably haunt my dreams for a few weeks. They hold a wrongness about them.

First of all, all of the major themes of the anime are intact. Humanity meets its demise face to face as the Colossal Titan kicks a hole in the impenetrable wall. The smaller titans swoop in, scooping up people, and crunching on their bones. Gore sprays in waves in this film, making the iconic brutality of Attack on Titan that much more intense. The titans feel less like monsters and more like Japanese horrors with uncanny faces and movements.

Eren shows his determination, feeble as it may be, to destroy the titans.
Eren shows his determination, feeble as it may be, to destroy the titans.

Lastly, unbridled rage remains in the character of Eren. He clashes with his fellow soldiers, wanting nothing more than to eradicate every titan for taking what he holds dear. His anger manifests in several ways throughout the film, keeping that theme firmly intact. All while being contrast with his fear of the titans, seeing their strength firsthand.

As for the differences, I’ll do my best to elaborate on some of the major ones without ruining the fun of the movie, but you may get a spoiler or two if you haven’t seen the anime.

Super uncomfortable scene, but shows the differences in this version of Mikasa.
Super uncomfortable scene, but shows the differences in this version of Mikasa.

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Where's our blonde strategist?
Where’s our blonde strategist? Let’s play “Where’s Armin?”

Another major change to characters is that of Sasha, the spunky, energetic member of Eren’s squad. She’s portrayed in a way that exaggerates her infamous “Potato Girl” scene to the point of it being obnoxious. Sasha of the film is more of a nuisance than comedic relief, as she disgustingly gobbles up any food she can get her mitts on. She does seem to have a better connection to Armin though, which is quite cute. However, it’s hard to tell the difference between Armin and Eren due to Armin’s recent choice in hair dye.

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Hiana, a character new for the film, leads Eren deeper into the abandoned cities. What they find is a bit bigger than they hoped. . .

The style of this live action adaptation—adaptation being a crucial keyword here—while different from the source material, is still rather enjoyable. I found myself cringing much more through this bloody adventure, but there are many epic moments with the flair I’ve come to love from the series. One scene in particular shows Eren and Hiana searching for a baby’s cry, turning the movie into a dark, scary experience as they hold interestingly designed lanterns aloft. Combining moments of horror like this one with the visual style put into the titans themselves makes for a scarier story.

The film’s final act fits one of the high points of the anime quite well. Eren’s rage for the titans brings him to make a sacrifice, only to have his anger live on in a devastating way. This scene is still as adrenaline filled as the first time I saw it in animated form. Each piece of action hits hard, fast, unexpected to make for a great climax.

The visuals sometimes feel like late Godzilla or Gamera films.
The visuals sometimes feel like late Godzilla or Gamera films.

Of course, this movie is broken into two parts, with a sneak peak at the end of this one. It’ll be interesting to see how the second part plays with the second season of the anime. I’ll definitely have to check it out soon.

Step into the Attack on Titan Live-Action movie with an open mind. This is a different version of the Attack on Titan story, themes, and style, not a mirror image of the anime with actors.

The film is available in English subtitles through importation on sites like Amazon, while an English dub is surely to show up in the future.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV

Chris Pratt is Here to Save Jurassic World

One of the posters for the film, which was released June 12, 2015.
One of the posters for the film, which was released June 12, 2015.

After being in “development hell” for over a decade, the fourth Jurassic Park film—the first since 2001—has finally been released. Does it tower over its predecessors like a mighty brontosaurus or fall prey to vicious mistakes like a pack of raptors?

A new theme park with cloned dinosaurs has opened on Isla Nublar, but the park’s latest attraction, a huge genetic hybrid called Indominus rex, has escaped and gone on a rampage.

From the start, Jurassic World has several challenges related to its premise. While the idea of the park opening and being successful is interesting, it still rehashes the original film by, once again, having these dangerous animals break free. Only this time there would be more people to eat. Creating a new breed of dinosaur seems like a lame gimmick to cover up the unoriginality. Think of how Terminator 3 is a retread of Terminator 2, except the villain is a female T-1000. Come to think of it, some would ask, “if the first park was a disastrous failure, why try it again?”

The film does manage to address these issues, for the most part. The new park was established by an entrepreneur to fulfill the dying wish of Dr. Hammond (the creator of the original park, played by the late Richard Attenborough). While it seemed Hammond had learned the hard way in previous films that the park was a bad idea, it could be argued that as he neared death he saw this as the best idea he had and wished to see it come to fruition. Seeing a chance to make a unique moneymaker, the entrepreneur seized upon the idea. In that way, it continues the series’ theme of man’s hubris in his attempt to control and/or manipulate nature. The creation of the Indominus rex (or “I-Rex,” as I like to call her) plays into this theme since she was created to reignite waning interest in the park. In fact, initially it’s only the I-Rex that escaped from its cage, creating a domino effect that freed several other species of dinosaur.

One of the film’s greatest strengths is its pacing and suspense. While Spielberg served only as an executive producer and not as director, Colin Trevorrow does an excellent job of channeling Spielberg’s style. At first the audience is shown only glimpses of the I-Rex as it hides among trees. Then a low shot of the legs. Only when it escapes from its cage and chases Chris Pratt is it fully seen. Not only that, but the scenes where the I-Rex stalks the humans—often coming within an inch of them—while they’re hiding is quite terrifying.

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Speaking of the I-Rex, it’s arguably the film’s primary villain. No, I think “supervillain” might be a better descriptor. Seriously, the creature could just as easily fit into an Avengers comic. While its primary genetic stock is that of a T-Rex, the rest is kept top secret, allowing filmmakers to unveil new abilities—or “superpowers,” if you will—as the film progresses. It’s intelligent enough to create misleading claw marks on its cage, it can cloak like a chameleon, it can hide from thermal scanners and it can communicate with raptors. Those are the ones I can remember off-hand. Couple that with being held in isolation all its life (though it did eat its sibling), and the heroes have a large, angry beast intent on putting itself on top of the food chain. However, unlike the original Jurassic Park, which presented the dinosaurs as animals and not monsters, the I-Rex is shown to kill for sport and not simply for food. Why it does this is never explained. Animals don’t do this. It would almost imply a human level of intelligence, but the I-Rex doesn’t display such behaviors. It seems like this was done simply to vilify the creature.

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(SPOILERS END)

I’ve spent all this time talking about the dinosaurs, but what about the humans? Only one character, Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), returns from the previous films, and his is a secondary role. While it takes about twenty minutes for him to show up, the star is Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a raptor trainer. He proves to be resourceful, charming and smart, accusing the park owners of tampering with nature and unethical treatment of the animals. Now I understand why many in Hollywood think Pratt could play Indiana Jones. The rest of the characters, of which there are many with intertwining stories, end up in Pratt’s shadow, to an extent.

The most surprising is Vincent D’Onofrio, a powerhouse of an actor who is saddled with playing a cliché military man who wants to use the dinosaurs as weapons. He borders on caricature given the preposterousness of this notion. Not only have the creatures proven difficult to control, since they know nothing of tactics or weaponry, they could easily be defeated by enemy soldiers (heck, one of the raptors is killed by an RPG in the film!). The cast also includes two brothers (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) who are sent to the park with their aunt (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park’s head of operations. While they give good performances, Howard comes across as a typical workaholic and the boys’ anxiety over their parents’ divorce isn’t quite resolved. The older brother promises to stick by the younger, but aside from reuniting with their parents at the end, the main issue isn’t addressed. Some might argue its better that way since divorce is a common experience for many kids, but I still felt it needed a bit more resolution.

Much like 2006’s Rocky Balboa, Jurassic World makes frequent allusions to the original film in the series and ignores the other sequels, but doesn’t retcon them away. Indeed, it does use nostalgia to bolster itself, sometimes in a borderline meta fashion, but not so much that the film can’t stand on its own merit.

The filmmakers wisely stuck to the Jurassic Park tradition of utilizing practical special effects and CGI, though this film has more of the latter than the previous entries (at least from what I can remember). The most obvious use of animatronics is seen when Pratt and Howard discover a dying brachiosaurus that was wounded by the I-Rex. However, practical effects weren’t used for scenes featuring muzzled raptors, where only their heads could be seen. The creature designs are all excellent, especially that of the I-Rex.

While it has plot and concept issues, Jurassic World still manages to be an entertaining summer blockbuster. It certainly rises above the other Jurassic sequels, but it can’t compare to the original classic.

Final Grade: B

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Random Giga

Old Fashioned (2014) Review

It’s that time of year again. Love is in the air, and if you were looking for a not so conventional love story then Old Fashioned may just be the film you need. Old Fashioned tells the story of a romance between a solitary man, Clay (Rik Swartzwelder), a woman with a passion for life, Amber (Elizabeth Roberts); however, instead of dating like people do now-a-days, Clay and Amber attempt to court each other instead, which means no kissing or anything beyond that.

Clay won’t even allow himself to be alone with Amber at all unless they’re in public or in what Clay might define as an “acceptable” situation. In fact, on their first official date Clay takes Amber to the local church where they have a pre-marital counseling session. Old fashioned, indeed! It’s a bit of an extreme approach to dating, and many of the other characters in the film agree. Clay spends most of his time defending his beliefs to those who are closest to him.

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Aunt Zella SmilingWhat I enjoyed most about Old Fashioned is that it presents an alternative to how most people pursue relationships, but it also acknowledges that resisting every dating convention to an extreme can make it impossible to form a meaningful relationship. Like in the scene where Clay and Amber “get lost” (Amber’s idea for a date where they drive to a random destination) and Clay refuses to admit he wants Amber, and he resists her when she leans in for a kiss. Because Clay refuses Amber any sort of intimacy—even if it is something more conservative—she feels like Clay doesn’t really value their relationship at all. In a nutshell I think this film emphasizes the idea that most people move too quickly in relationships, but if one takes things too slowly in an attempt to have a perfect relationship it can be equally damaging. Overall, it’s refreshing to watch a film with this sort of outlook on relationships. Even if it is a view most people might not agree with.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV

Big Eyes (2014) Review

Big Eyes? More like big whoop! Sorry, that was incredibly corny, but that’s how I feel about Tim Burton’s latest movie. I have to agree that it is the best thing he’s made in years; however, that doesn’t make this biopic the best.

Big Eyes tells the story of a real artist named Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) whose husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) takes all the credit for her portraits of children with their signature big eyes. There ya go: that’s pretty much the gist of the action. Walter pretending to be the artist behind the big eye portraits happens very early on (assuming you already knew about this story before reading this review), but the majority of the film focuses on just that subject. It gets pretty dull after a while. In most cases, viewers already know what’s going to happen in a biopic especially if they follow a significant historical figure or event, but shouldn’t filmmakers be able to create an exciting story despite the historical spoiler? Yes they should, but unfortunately Big Eyes does not succeed in creating any sort of suspense.

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The wardrobe is the most enjoyable aspect of Big Eyes, which are beautifully done. Unfortunately, those costumes could not save the rest of the film. It’s an okay movie, but one I’d recommend waiting to watch through some streaming service. Good luck next time, Tim Burton.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Science Zone, Tech World

Who has time for Interstellar?

Interstellar:  With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history; to travel through a wormhole in an attempt to find a potentially habitable planet that will sustain humanity. (C) Paramount / IMDB)

A typical Morning like any other, my daughter was in school, routine as usual, a pleasant surprise happened at my door. The knock sent me to the window to see who it could be only to find it was my dear mother cheerful smile as usual for a visit. Over herbal tea and a split peanut butter sandwich we decided to be spontaneous and take a trip to see a movie. To see what? It didn’t matter.

Presented with a number of viable choices at the ticket booth—both of us being sci-fi buffs—we immediately gravitated to Interstellar, we really had no clue what it was about and had never seen a trailer for it (I rarely watch television), but how much more “sci-fi” could that title be? Even with the reputation Christopher Nolan has for delivering masterful films, we were not prepared for what we were about experience. What we saw transcended science fiction, taking us for a thrilling, nail-biting emotional roller-coaster, mixing elements of quantum science coupled with an outstanding demonstration visually representing the basics of string theory, all while playing at the heart strings of any parent or adventurous spirit. For this Father-Geek it was money well spent.

The viewer should be prepared to entertain scientific theories that still fall into the theoretical category. In layman’s terms, there are many broad ideas presented that some viewers will either quickly grasp or have to watch twice or more. I recommend the latter. A perfect blend of visually stunning cinematography and art direction, the superficial story makes the PG-13 rating appropriate for children even with its very brief expletives. Young viewers will enjoy the excitement and action of the harrowing journey, while those geeks who are older and/or more knowledgeable will appreciate the depth and magnitude of the over-arching storyline and premise.

Two hours and forty-nine minutes felt like half that time. The pacing of the movie is perfect to create the illusion of lapsed time echoing the mood and theme. Considering the topic relied on Einstein’s theory of relativity and time dilation (which basically means that time lapses differently for two objects as perceived by an observer, depending on whether they are traveling at the same speed and bound to the same gravitational force or not). Time really became irrelevant while sitting in that movie theater.

The issue Earth has is it will become unsuitable for supporting human life. With the discovery of a recently formed wormhole, NASA has a “Plan A” and “Plan B” for ensuring the continuity of the human race, which involves exploring that wormhole (it seemed to have recently been “intelligently placed” in our Solar System). Plan A: In hopes of identifying which of three options has the best possibility of being suitable for sustaining human life, traverse the wormhole and explore the galaxy at the other side. Once identified, return home to Earth parades. Plan B: If none could be found or if the mission takes longer than planned, then it would be up to the members of this space exploration mission to carry with them the seeds of humanity and continue the human races on their own.

NASA recruits a onetime ace NASA pilot and engineer named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) father of teenage son Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and his 10-year-old daughter Murphy “Murph,” aptly named after Murphy’s Law (Mackenzie Foy). Ultimately Cooper, to the chagrin of his daughter Murph, agrees to join and lead the humanity-saving expedition. Matthew McConaughey rips at our heart strings as we have front row seats to his doubt, anguish, and hope. Watching him question whether he loves humanity or his children more or are they both one in the same cause, had me at the edge of my seat and a ball of nerves simply by considering as a father how far I would go for my own daughters. Without spoiling much, the ending was such a gentle touch down after a long journey, allowing my shoulders to lower and relax. By the time the credits rolled, I felt like I had run a marathon while carrying 1000 lbs. on my shoulders. I was exhausted for Cooper and my only thought was to hug my little girl tightly when she came home from school.
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Aside from that of the authentic Matthew McConaughey, other performances that cannot be understated are that of Anne Hathaway, who plays an exemplary supporting star; Michael Cain and John Lithgow both distinctive icons in performance and notability; Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain who convincingly played the same role so perfectly.

Matt Damon, although briefly, complimented the quality of acting capability essential to harmoniously interpreting and conveying such a climactic portion of the story. Josh Stewart (TARS Robot) gave the audience a refreshing impression of what machines can be: not apathetic, but comfortably bound by objective. TARS is one of my most memorable good-guy robots, without mimicking the I am almost human/Robot theme that’s become a bit stale. Along with many other great illustrations of showmanship, the cast was synergistic. Visually hypnotic, Nolan hand gift-wraps a superb collection of creative yet compelling and inspiring capture techniques that is only achievable from an iconic director of his caliber.

Ultimately, I would suggest any parent, science geek, action-suspense fan, or Sci-fi lover to run immediately to your nearest movie theater and throw cash as the man behind the window declaring that ‘you will not leave until they slide a ticket through that little opening in the glass panel between you’, then cross your arms and stare.

~Jack~
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