ATTACK ON TITAN REVIEW
I’ve never been the biggest fan of anime, but there is no denying that Attack on Titan is one of the best animated shows that have come out in a while. It’s stylization and high concept plot is easily accessible to the English-speaking viewers, which might explain why it has become so popular over here in America.
After a film was announced there were a lot of reasons to be skeptical. Would Japan be able to handle the special effects?
The entire concept of the Manga and Anime was that giants have taken over the world and forced humanity behind three interlaying walls. Using a device called the Omni-Directional Gear, humans fight the titans by swinging around like Spider-Man to attack their weak spots.
Add a couple fights between the Titan goliaths and 18th-century warfare, and you’ve got a very challenging film from a visual effects standpoint. You might think that’s where the film fails—but that’s just part of it. The effects are hit and miss. Some are pretty impressive from an art standpoint (such as the fantastic work on the Colossal Titan and the eerie titan movements). But other effects such as the swinging, duplicated Titan models, shoddy CGI, and cheap sets, make the film feel cheesy and corny.
On top of that the film is terribly paced, moving too quickly through too little material. The fight scenes aren’t engaging, and you don’t have the time to become immersed in the world. Because of this, the characters suffer and don’t have time to develop, making them feel flat, lifeless, and void. In the end, though, the greatest fault with the film is ALL the liberties it took with the source material.
Changes to the source material should be used to strengthen the story being told. A good example of this is Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. The films differ significantly from the source material, but a lot of the changes strengthen the shorter, more compact narrative.
Attack on Titan does not do this and makes weird and bizarre changes for the sake of change. These changes ultimately weaken the characters and narrative…some of them causing parts of the film to feel nonsensical.
Here is a list of the differences between the source and the film. SPOILER WARNING FOR BOTH FILM AND MANGA/ANIME:
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LIVE ACTION AND ANIME/MANGA:
1) The story takes place in Japan instead of Europe/Germany. As a result, many names are changed to Japanese names.
2) All characters are Japanese instead of European; therefore Mikasa is NOT the last person of Asian decent and carrying the burden of being the last of her race.
3) It begins the story with the main characters around the age of 20 rather than as children.
4) It is explicitly stated that the walls were built by humans instead of leaving it a mystery.
5) There are remnants of modern weapons and technology in the world (such as missiles, trucks, batteries, and rocket launchers) instead of 18th-century weapons with a steampunk edge.
6) Armin is obsessed with lost technology that is now “forbidden” because it was bad for the environment…or something…it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
7) At the beginning, Mikasa’s character is more happy and friendly rather than withdrawn and cold. She also begins the film as Eren’s girlfriend.
8) Armin learns about the existence of oceans from the side of an old missile/bomb instead of a geographical book of the outside world.
9) Eren gives Mikasa his scarf because she is coming down with a cold rather than as an act of comfort after her family is killed. Mikasa’s past is never mentioned.
10) It's implied that they tried to nuke the Titans, and now the world outside of Wall Maria is radioactive. (Armin: “They say the outside is full of Titans. Due to a huge bomb only Titans can survive outside…”).
11) No one has seen a Titan for over 100 years (apparently not even from the top of the wall) and many people such as Eren think they no longer (or never did) exist.
12) A character named Souda replaces Hannes as a member of the Garrison Corps. He never saves Eren or Mikasa. Unlike Hannes, Souda begins a responsible commander then later becomes a drunk, as opposed to Hannes, who begins as an irresponsible drunk and changes his ways.
13) At the beginning of the film, the Scout Regiment doesn’t exist yet. No one has gone beyond the wall in 100 years.
14) The Colossal Titan can destroy any part of the wall, not just the gateways.
15) At the beginning of the film, they have no idea how to kill the Titans and believe they are immortal.
16) Armin’s father is killed in the first attack instead of being among the survivors sent to reclaim Wall Maria.
17) During the first attack, survivors hole up in a wooden church instead of escaping by boat.
18) The Armored Titan never appears and is never mentioned.
19) During the first attack, Mikasa is separated from Eren and is believed dead for over two years. In the anime/manga, she is always by Eren’s side.
20) Eren wants revenge on the Titans because he believes they killed Mikasa, not because he watched them eat his mother.
21) Eren’s parents are only mentioned and never seen. They both die before the events of the film. The mystery of his father plays no part, and you never see him inject Eren with some a mystery formula. Thus, his later transformation has no context.
22) Refugees from Wall Maria are never sent out to try to reclaim the lost territory. Instead, the Scout Regiment is formed for this purpose.
23) Eren and his classmates instantly sign up for the Scout Regiment, and we never see their training or why many of them decided to join.
24) The second Titan attack at Trost never happens.
25) Captain Levi and his team never appear and are never mentioned. Instead Research Specialist Hans is made the squad leader of the Scout Regiment.
26) Levi is replaced with a character named Shikishima that serves as “the strongest soldier”, similar to Levi. Very little of his personality is the same.
27) There is no correlation between The Scout Regiment’s mission and Eren trying to get back to his old basement. In the film, the mission is to repair the damaged wall of Maria using “ancient” explosives.
28) The Omni-Directional gear is invented AFTER the first attack on Wall Maria.
29) Sasha’s role is greatly expanded compared to other characters whose roles are reduced.
30) Reiner is replaced with a similar character named Sannagi, who for some reason can throw whole titans like rag dolls…
31) Marco, Connie, Bertolt, Krista, and, most importantly, Annie Leonhart are never mentioned and never appear.
32) During the expedition beyond the wall, the Scout Regiment uses three military trucks instead of a strategic horse formation.
33) Bows and arrows are used instead of muskets.
34) Shikishima (Levi) finds Mikasa outside the wall and personally trains her to be a great warrior.
35) Mikasa and Shikishima (Levi) are not with the Scout Regiment when they leave the wall. Instead, they later rescue them while on the expedition. Mikasa is believed to be dead until this point. There is a weird sexual tension between Mikasa and Shikishima.
36) Commander Erwin is replaced with General Kubal who is the head of the Military Police….don’t ask what he was doing with the Scout Regiment outside the wall…
37) The Military Police heavily resemble the Nazis.
38) Mikasa seems somewhat hostile towards Eren after they are reunited. She claims only to want to kill Titans. At one point, she intentionally leaves Eren to die. In the anime, Mikasa considers Eren her only family and relentlessly protects him. The only reason she joined the army was to keep Eren safe.
39) No one seems to have any training with Omni-directional gear besides Mikasa and Shikishima. Eren seems to be learning for the first time while outside the wall and battling the Titans.
40) Jean is more hostile and antagonistic in the film, getting in several fistfights with Eren. He displays no leadership capabilities.
41) Armin, while interested in technology, never shows any strategic talent or any book smarts.
42) Eren is eaten and transforms into a Titan for the first time while outside the wall, rather than during the battle of Trost. Mikasa doesn’t seem overly concerned when he dies or relieved when he returns alive.
43) Shikishima (Levi) does not feel protectiveness towards his troops. When he sees Eren on a roof with his leg bitten off, he (like Mikasa) leaves him there to die.
44) Everyone knows that Eren has transformed into a Titan even before he emerges from inside one. Mikasa has to cut him out before he “becomes one with it”.
END OF SPOILERS
In the end, the film had a couple cool art pieces in the special effects, and a couple effective horror sequences, but other than that it fails on almost every level. The characters were thin, the dialog corny, the effects inconsistent in quality, and the story twisted past the point of recognition. In fact, if you hadn’t seen the anime previously, I doubt this movie would be understandable at all.
Here is a rare case where the property might have benefited from a Hollywood-ization. After all, the characters are mostly white Europeans, and the story itself is high concept enough to validate the use of overblown special effects. A larger budget would have definitely done it a lot of good.
Who knows? Maybe Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) will take a swing at it.
Until then, you are better off skipping this lackluster, disappointing film and just watching the anime if you haven’t seen it yet. Attack on Titan really is an anime that even non-fans of the genre can enjoy—the same cannot be said for the film.
Check out the trailer for the far superior anime, below.