Well, I have no clue WHAT was going on in the director's and writer's heads when they decided to MASSIVELY mess with the characters and story line. I know the comic to movie medium needs some alterations/compromise, but in this representation, the entire first 3/4 of the movie is pretty much butchered from the original manga AND anime... dropping the entire reasoning behind the characters motivations, leaving out key characters and replacing it with some truly pedantic filler that views much more like a plodding mess rather than developing intriguing characters who get into the action viscerally.
I can understand skipping the 'training' arc for expediency and the swap of horses for vehicles as horses would be an unnecessary nightmare to control in a movie like this but after the first Titan attack (15 mins in) to the next Titan confrontation (55 mins in), we are faced with some of the most drudging, shoehorned garbage I've seen in a loooong time. What the heck was the purpose of the two 'lovebirds' and their interaction?? pointless filler, and they're not the only ones.
It really feels like the director spent too much energy trying to get the 'feel' of the manoeuvre gear and Titans rather than putting more effort into the actual characters and with the film clocking in at just 90 minutes, they really could have extended it another half hour and put some real development into the actual 'world building' and characters so people could feel invested in the story.
The effects were surprisingly good... it's just a shame the story fails on so many levels and I'm saying that as a movie fan, not as a fan of the series itself. I really liked the recent 'Parasite' live adaptation because there was enough in there to build a good story even though a LOT was sacrificed from the original material.
Ah well, maybe the second part will redeem the production... I certainly hope so!
I can understand skipping the 'training' arc for expediency and the swap of horses for vehicles as horses would be an unnecessary nightmare to control in a movie like this but after the first Titan attack (15 mins in) to the next Titan confrontation (55 mins in), we are faced with some of the most drudging, shoehorned garbage I've seen in a loooong time. What the heck was the purpose of the two 'lovebirds' and their interaction?? pointless filler, and they're not the only ones.
It really feels like the director spent too much energy trying to get the 'feel' of the manoeuvre gear and Titans rather than putting more effort into the actual characters and with the film clocking in at just 90 minutes, they really could have extended it another half hour and put some real development into the actual 'world building' and characters so people could feel invested in the story.
The effects were surprisingly good... it's just a shame the story fails on so many levels and I'm saying that as a movie fan, not as a fan of the series itself. I really liked the recent 'Parasite' live adaptation because there was enough in there to build a good story even though a LOT was sacrificed from the original material.
Ah well, maybe the second part will redeem the production... I certainly hope so!