MovieChat Forums > Shingeki no kyojin (2015) Discussion > Not a TERRIBLE movie.. but they crap all...

Not a TERRIBLE movie.. but they crap all over the lore (spoilers ahead)

posted 10 years ago by orclord-866-975310
39 replies | jump to latest

here were just a few of my problems..

1) the characters are all about 5 years too old. i dont know how old the actors actually are, but seeing erin and arwin and mikasa being about 19 before the titans showed up? they should have been much much younger. and arwin without blonde hair was kind of silly too.

2) they butchered mikasa's personality completely.. she went from a strong female character, to a giggling little schoolgirl for most of the movie. and the rest of it wasnt much better. that scene with the apple? how *beep* up creepy was that?

3) female titans everywhere... for a story that kind of made a point out of how they thought it was strange to have never seen a female titan before, the movie version just throws them at you left and right. and not any 'attractive' ones either, its all chubby, middle age sterotype ones. there was a lot of varity in the male titans, why not the female ones if you are going to waste our time by adding them in?

4) baby titan.. i mean for *beep* sake, what the hell is up with that? there was absolutely no reasoning behind that or explanation. and it was never even mentioned again. i sure as hell would have expected one of them to be telling their commanding officer about a *beep* baby titan that was discovered.

despite these problems, the movie was a lot better than i expected it to be. i did enjoy the experience, and i loved the berserk titan fight. (comment, how did old man souda know it was erin? and how did crazy lady scout leader come to conclusion that 'oh, so thats why the nape is their weak spot' ? did she just suddenly start thinking that every other titan they killed had a human there? jumping to conclusions!)

[–] moviepirate88 10 years ago

True. The scene where they, Souda and Mikasa, knew the ripped titan was Eren after all is what irked me the most. I would have said its the apple scene but Hans concluding the nape weakness right after what Souda said about tissue assimilation and Mikasa slicing the nape delicately sealed the confusion for me. If they just explained the reason of the weakness of titans earlier along with the 3d maneuver gear then it would have helped.

SpOILER!!!

I don't mind the counterparts of Annie, Reiner or Bertolt since it seems like the hooded person filled their role. It could be Eren's dad...

I think I saw a female ripped titan at the end preview though. Could be an entirely new character for the part2 or its the hooded person. And there, of course, the need for the colossal titan, too.

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 10 years ago

"I don't mind the counterparts of Annie, Reiner or Bertolt "

Not having those 3 MAIN characters in the story is criminal.

[–] parknourie 9 years ago

If that's criminal, how about leaving out Levi?!!
They basically took a dump on fans with this choice.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and a Wagging Finger of Shame

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

All they had to do was follow the story ... 

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 10 years ago

I watched the anime as it aired, but I couldn't feel connected to it. I feel it has an interesting story and concept, but I found my self not caring at all for the characters at large.

I will try to adress your points as someone who isn't that much into the anime, so take it with a grain of salt:

1 - I have no problem with their age. I would be rather annoyed if it went the "teenager highschool freshman" route [though there is no highschool in the anime]. If they were to use 12 yo to portray the characters I would feel I would be watching a japanese rendition of any Steven Spielberg movie. Not a good thing.
I also find that japanese westerner stereotypes not to be as "realistic" as watching a japanese portraying a japanese. You would have to think: how come does that character, that lives under those conditions, get to paint his hair blond? It would be more of a distraction than anything else.
A different approach to this would be a Bleach live-action movie. The actor portraying Ichigo SHOULD have his hair dyed because that is one of that particular characters' motifs. It would make no sense otherwise [and the background set between him and arwin is very different; in fact Bleach is all about stereotypes].

2 - Mikasa is also a character I can't relate to. She seemed quite bland in the anime [again, I couldn't relate to any character in the anime]. She remained a strong character on the movie along side with arwin.
The scene with the apple seemed like the typical alpha male dispute. an ex love interest and a new love interest disputing the same piece of ass. Creepy? yes. The sad part is that it happens in real life as well [and many times not with an apple but with a gun].

3 - I would find it strange if there WEREN'T female titans. It's something that really made no sense in the anime. But, then again, maybe the anime was toned down not to show bewbs all the time.
As for "attractiveness", did you find any male titans attractive?  They are titans, they are not supposed to be pretty or attractive [unless you get your juices flowing from that].

There are plenty non-middle aged titans as well. Long haired ones, slim ones, fat ones, they are all there.

4 - Baby titan made a hell lot of sense. Remember, the crazy sadistic female character says in both the anime as well in the movie that theyt don't know how the titans procreate [and if they do]. We get a glimpse from how Titans come to be later in the anime, but not in the movie [the movie didn't go that far, neither could it]. Plus, baby titan was a nice gruesome add on. I like it.

As for the ranting on why why they didn't mention the baby titan: Why would they? There are titans everywhere, young, old, tall, shorter, male and female. Why would a baby titan be of any surprise to them? Only to the viewer it makes any impact, to them it doesn't really because that's their reality.

despite these problems, the movie was a lot better than i expected it to be. i did enjoy the experience, and i loved the berserk titan fight. (comment, how did old man souda know it was erin? and how did crazy lady scout leader come to conclusion that 'oh, so thats why the nape is their weak spot' ? did she just suddenly start thinking that every other titan they killed had a human there? jumping to conclusions!)

It was indeed a lot better than I was expecting as well. After watching all anime into movies renditions there are, this one is by far the most interesting in terms of sheer fun.

I do have a few negative things to say about it, but mostly about the practical effects: green screen is obvious, the Erin titan was crappy [and the face shots were painly obvious a puppet] and the characters are as bland and uninteresting as they are from the anime [personal opinion obviously].

At least it didn't drag its' ass as the anime does.

Old man knew it was Erin because he put 2+2 togeher: Erin got eaten by a titan, titan gets out of titan, good titan fights bad titans, good titan is Erin.

Crazy girl did the same math: Titans have a weak spot, butchered human turned healthy titan got out of bad titan, titans were human once, humanity must reside in the titans' weak spot.

Does it make sense? In our reality no. In anime reality it does.
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[–] geearf 10 years ago

3) It's not that it makes no sense that they are no females, it's just another mystery. I actually like that (there are quite a few species with no gender so why not)
Based on the anime I don't get why there are fat titans (since titans don't digest humans... what do they get fat on? sunlight?).

4) Hmmm I don't know. If you see titans as biological experiments, they would not need to grow up, just to come to exist, like robots would. I don't mind the baby, but I wouldn't say it was needed either. Since we don't know much about titan, it's neutral to me.

5) As I wrote in another post, Eren is the first hybrid, there should not be anyone thinking of a hybrid before "knowing" about it, it just does not make sense. Once they know about hybrids it was easy to think it was Anna... but if you didn't know there could be some no. So no the only way Soda should know, is that he's involved in the transformation, or he's a genius above Erwin and Armin (neither of them even thought of the possibility of hybrids in the anime, and so far these 2 are the smartest ones we've seen). Since I don't see him being that smart or involved... I call for stupid plot!

6) That makes no sense either. They've been cutting titans napes for a while and never saw a human in there... if all titans were hybrids (which I don't believe they are) she would have seen that long ago, but since she never did saw humans under the nape, your logic does not work.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

I agree with everything you said, except for the nape thing. They knew how to kill titans but mentioned they would melt or something like that [and we see it happen]. Without a good reason to further investigate what is under the nape, they wouldn't [and they didn't until they realized what was going on].

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[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 10 years ago

"I watched the anime as it aired, but I couldn't feel connected to it. I feel it has an interesting story and concept, but I found my self not caring at all for the characters at large. "

Interesting story? Interesting?!? It's one of the best stories ever told!

You sir, you have no clue about this story. None.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

I will reply to that "wise" comment of your stating that there is a very good probability that you were still swimming on your dad's ball sack when I was already watching anime.

But since I'm not interest in your personal opinion, given your ridiculous comment, I will no further feed you.

Good day, son.

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[–] SkeksisGirl 9 years ago

I also find that japanese westerner stereotypes not to be as "realistic" as watching a japanese portraying a japanese. You would have to think: how come does that character, that lives under those conditions, get to paint his hair blond? It would be more of a distraction than anything else.

Actually, a story point in the show/manga, is that Mikasa is one of the very few people left with Asian blood in her. Eren, Armin, and everyone else are supposed to be western people. So them having brown hair, blonde hair would be natural for them.

WB: Wonder Woman is too confusing for a movie!
Marvel/Disney: Here is a raccoon with a machine gun!

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

I know, but in the movie they are all asians. Having one character portraying a westerner wouldn't make sense. That's what I was saying.

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[–] SkeksisGirl 9 years ago

The live action movie is limited by it's budget, need to be for all audiences, and where it has been filmed.

The live action Sailor Moon show at least had a decent excuse for why the girls had different color hair when they transformed, since magical girl. But not really the case here.

That being said... do people think an American version of the movie would be truer to the lore? Or be worse than The Last Airbender?

WB: Wonder Woman is too confusing for a movie!
Marvel/Disney: Here is a raccoon with a machine gun!

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

Ah, well said.
IMHO, Hollywood has the budget but lacks the "touch". There are some very particular elements from the japanese culture that don't get well translated into the screen. I'm quite ok with artistic liberties as long has the concept isn't changed, or a certain essential peculiarity in the story isn't modified.

I really dig asian horror stories and movies. As a part of their overall culture they are able to capture a certain "reverence" for the spiritual element on screen that the western portion of the world doesn't. They give a lot of ambience to their stories which IMHO is excelent. The same applies to their manga/anime.

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[–] falacta 9 years ago

"2 - Mikasa is also a character I can't relate to. She seemed quite bland in the anime [again, I couldn't relate to any character in the anime]. She remained a strong character on the movie along side with arwin.
The scene with the apple seemed like the typical alpha male dispute. an ex love interest and a new love interest disputing the same piece of ass. Creepy? yes. The sad part is that it happens in real life as well [and many times not with an apple but with a gun]. "

In what part of the world do you even live? In most of the industrial world we have more advanced pissing contests and none but rednecks or the regional equivalent would consider a gun an acceptable way of behavior.

Thing is that this is precisely out of character for Mikasa to tolerate someone trying to manhandle her like this when considering the anime and her backstory. She is more stoic than bland.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

you obviously don't get out of the house much, hey?

You can even call Mikasa Santa Clause for that matter. I find her uninteresting to say the least. Like all the characters there.

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[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

"She seemed quite bland in the anime"

That is called stoicism. She has a rich history, and you would have shown this, had you actually watched the anime.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

^^^^ this is called idiocy. You should now, you're an idiot. 

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[–] phantasmagorical101 10 years ago

This whole movie doesn't make sense, technically this should have been filmed with mostly German and North American actors, Mikasa is one of the very few asians left. Therfore this being filmed in Japan with an all Japanese cast was not a good idea.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 10 years ago

I get that. But where would they get the money to import german actors?
Besides, if you didn't know the characters are german-ish in the manga/anime you wouldn't say they are other than asian. They all look asian to me.

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[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 10 years ago

"They all look asian to me."

With that blonde hair, blue eyes and names like Keith. You are an idiot.

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

With that blonde hair, blue eyes and names like Keith. You are an idiot.

because japanese never use westerner names, clothing, hair styles, cultural traits in manga... ever. 

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[–] falacta 9 years ago

While I'm with you on why they didn't do it, the lore of this Manga/Anime is quite specific on the ethnicities of the characters and that Asians are extremely rare because supposedly their lands were wiped out by the Titans first and only few could flee to the lands with the wall.

It's a small detail but the international touch was explicitly part of the original story.

If it's not mentioned, sure, anything goes, a bit different if it is essentially part of the world building and about one of the main characters (also about the relationship between the two main characters as Eren saved Mikasa from a trafficking ring explicitly targeting her and her mother for fetching a great price due to the rarity of their ethnicity).

[–] Flamboyant_Little_Devil 9 years ago

You are correct. Maybe there'll be a joint Japanese/American/European rendition of this movie at some point - still beats the crap out of Dragon Ball Evolution.

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[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 10 years ago

"Therfore this being filmed in Japan with an all Japanese cast was not a good idea."

It was a catastrophic idea. Maybe someone will remake this live action and do it properly this time by respecting the original story and characters.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] geearf 10 years ago

1) That's pretty common in movies... so it's not like we should really complain about the age thing (I thought about it too but...)

2) Yeah I didn't get the whole damsel in distress either, but it's pretty much what she was in the show before THE accident at her house, so it's just shifting it.

3) Agreed.

4) Agreed. Though, maybe the baby is only new stuff to us but not them?

5) Damn, it was a lot worse than I expected :)

[–] Jay_Nadiah 9 years ago

1) the characters are all about 5 years too old. i dont know how old the actors actually are, but seeing erin and arwin and mikasa being about 19 before the titans showed up? they should have been much much younger. and arwin without blonde hair was kind of silly too.

im totally glad they made them older... young kids in anime is fine because im used to it.. but I think in live action its far more believable if they 18+

2) they butchered mikasa's personality completely.. she went from a strong female character, to a giggling little schoolgirl for most of the movie. and the rest of it wasnt much better. that scene with the apple? how *beep* up creepy was that?

I like the changes they made to her although im not entirely sure on the change in dynamics between her and eren.. regardless im glad they made her a scared girl in the start rather another rei ayanami clone like she was in the anime. agree with you on the apple scene though.. that was kinda dumb.

3) female titans everywhere... for a story that kind of made a point out of how they thought it was strange to have never seen a female titan before, the movie version just throws them at you left and right. and not any 'attractive' ones either, its all chubby, middle age sterotype ones. there was a lot of varity in the male titans, why not the female ones if you are going to waste our time by adding them in?

again I didn't have a problem with this.... plus titans are meant to look scary not hot lol.

4) baby titan.. i mean for *beep* sake, what the hell is up with that? there was absolutely no reasoning behind that or explanation. and it was never even mentioned again. i sure as hell would have expected one of them to be telling their commanding officer about a *beep* baby titan that was discovered.

yeah baby titan was stupid. I agree.

despite these problems, the movie was a lot better than i expected it to be.

absolutely agree. I realy don't understand all the general negativity this film is getting for the changes... for me some where bad some where for the better.. this wasn't as good as the anime for me but I still loved it :P

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

1) I didn't mind the age of the characters being advanced. They COULD have made it work if it was done better. However, I found that the more irritating factor was how they really changed the characters' personalities and such themselves. Eren was little more than a bland passerby with no distinguishing personality - Same with Armin. The Levi replacement contained his "titan killing" reputation, but he was freaking weird overall. What the hell was up with the apple? An Adam & Eve parallel?

2) Agreed.

3) Eh... I kinda like this addition to be honest. It's weird in the manga and the anime that there aren't any female titans. You'd think that if (Spoiler) much of humanity was turned into titans, that there'd be some females in there. I mean, how did they all happen to be male titans but no females? I know it's done to make the female titan unique, but really... What makes the female titan unique is her intelligence due to her being a titan shifter.

4) They should have definitely mentioned it again for sure. In fact, I suspected it was the same baby that got eaten by the smiling titan that somehow got turned into a titan due to the "new" way they're trying to explain titan shifters. However, in following with how it's related to the manga, again, like the lack of female titan idea, it's weird that only ADULTS got turned into titans as well.. Especially since there are several classes of titans ranging from 2-3 meter ones and 15 meter ones (the bigger ones being shifters).

Now all that said, the movie was a huge deviation from the manga/anime. While some changes I was okay with, the majority were either weird or just plain inferior to the original version.

That and it was just incredibly rushed.

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

"It's weird in the manga and the anime that there aren't any female titans."

THERE ARE FEMALE TITANS IN THE ANIME/MANGA!

What do you think ate Eren's mom? "The vast majority of Titans have a masculine body shape, although all of them lack reproductive organs (they have no need to reproduce since they are humans transformed through unknown methods)." ... but that one was one of the minority feminine body shapes. And there are others as well!

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

I always thought Smiling Titan looked like a skinny dude... With a freaky "Joker-esque" smile.

However, at least in the anime, the titan to the left of the "Nicolas Cage Titan" kinda looked female:
http://nicolascage.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Attack-on-Titan.jpg

But other than that, they all looked male.

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

You probably don't know about 3 other female titans, if you haven't kept up with the manga.

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

I know Ymir is one, but her titan form looks nothing like a female however.

Frieda looks more femaleish, but like Annie, she's a titan shifter.

None of the "normal" titans look female.

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

You forget the male/female titan "couple" .. Eren smashes their faces with one punch.

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

No, I didn't. I posted a link to a screenshot of them a few posts up.

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

I generally don't follow links.

Yes, that is another regular titan that looks like a female. There are more ...

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

What other ones besides that look female that aren't titan shifters?

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

I'm supposed to find out for you? 

Here's one more for ya ... the one that eats the brunette girl in Eren's squad, the 34th.

[–] DoctorModernMan 9 years ago

this one?
http://animalnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/Shingeki-no-Kyojin-02-Large-06-1.jpg

Eh... Somewhat, I guess.

This one kinda looks female, but it's really the only titan that's drawn like the other human anime styles. http://blog-imgs-51.fc2.com/y/a/r/yaraon/1371316204095.jpg

How does it feel to be deconstructed?

[–] BarneyRubbleNLittleChina 9 years ago

Nope. Good find though ...