Today, I'll be taking a look at the much-maligned Attack on Titan Live Action films. Do they really deserve the hate they get?
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Remarks from the Future: I heard nothing but bad things about these movies. Personally, I was cautiously optimistic about them after seeing the first trailer. I never had any screenings in my area, then the bad reviews came out, and I forgot about it. I didn't even know there was a second one. About a while later, I finally watched them. The first one has a lot of good qualities (mainly the effects), but the general tone and atmosphere was just "Yup, this is a live-action adaptation made for money's sake". Then I watched the second. It doubled down on the weirdness that the first film had, but it worked to its benefit. I don't even mind Shikishima that much. The funniest part is that recent events in the manga make certain events in this movie make perfect sense. Changes in adaptations are fine if the changed aspects are more interesting as a result. Otherwise, everyone's acting seems better, the action is great (as long as ODM gear isn't involved), and, as one kind commenter put it, it's a pretty solid kaiju flick on its own.
A common complaint I saw is how the effects look cheesy. Well, yeah, they are to an extent (Titan Eren's head looks goofy), but I watch and enjoy stuff like this all the time, like Super Sentai and Godzilla, and all these effects are actually in front of the camera!
Are a lot of the criticisms volleyed at these films valid? Yes, but not nearly to the extent that these are awful, awful films. The first is just mediocre, and the second is underrated. I stand by both scores, and at the same time, wonder what the Hollywood version's going to look like.
