#how is this movie touted as super violent

[ladyelainehilfur]

Kim but black??? 😭 don't tell me we're going the show route of copying and pasting character models and slightly changing the color palette. not with that $100M budget !

the (real) Kim! and the other boys! ngl, not loving what they did with Max's hair. I'm not gonna complain too much about their outfits being exactly the same as the show just because I understand creating a whole new toy line with different looks specifically from the movie would be a hassle and ZAG probably wanna keep all their Miraculous IP under the same production umbrella.

but I still wish marinette and adrien got new fits smh

WOOO MY GIRLIES! Sabrina's glowup omg!! And Chloe looks amazing!

uh oh, I can sense my lowkey crush on Kim finally coming to find me T_T

I'd already seen this but WHOA DIRECT REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL CGI ANIMATION FOR LADYBUG!!!!

that's so fricking cool 😭 that version of ladybug/marinette will always have a special place in my heart so I'm very happy they took inspiration from it. Not only this reference but the movie's transformation sequence is pretty similar to the original CGI transformation too^^

Shout to OG CGI Marinette for having the prettiest transformation sequence ever.

but the movie's transformation sequence is really good too! love the watery/gliterry effect.

girl why are you in the roof

LMAO my heart thumped so bad seeing them practice together at that park, just like AlyaNino did when they were super heroes THEY'RE SO CUTE OML

damn, I haven't seen clouds this well-animated since Stormy Weather. Stormy Weather is in my top 3 episodes ever just for the animation and VFX alone 😖 this bodes SO well for the movie

...I am constantly on a pendulum that swings between loving movie Adrien's design and absolutely despising it. This cute style with the chubby cheeks works so well for Marinette, but Adrien is not reaping the same benefits. Idk, something about his face when it stays still for too long is very unappealing. I much prefer it when it's exaggeratedly animated.

Also why isn't his suit shiny anymore :((( it's on the guardians watching if they think his cosplaying as a leather touting cat boy is too sensual or something smh ruining it for the rest of us

and here it is, reminder number one this will probably be a cliche kids movie 😭 man I really don't like this overused style of humor. Also, it gives me mad BBC Merlin Lady of the Lake vibes iykyk

whoops, forgot Gabe was in this movie. hhh whatever, the transformation looks much more violent for him and that's how it should be.

yeah, I want more of THIS. he's so so very cute. he's baby and he actually looks 12-13 like the show is begging us to believe he is instead of 15-16.

really enjoying seeing Ladybug's progression from being clumsy to gaining more of her trademark confidence. but I'm glad we can see that flying around Paris on a yoyo would be terrifying 😭

#that gif took forever to make what the frick #every now and then I'm forced to relearn how to properly create gifs #that trailer was 2 minutes and it took me almost two hours to make this post #🤡 #anyway really excited! #I made my ladybug jacket ages ago when the movie was supposed to come out in april #probably gonna go see it at night so I can avoid all the kids 💀 #and hopefully see other adult/teen fans #miraculous movie #it's not called awakening anymore huh #I wonder why #*looks away* #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #ladybug

[nekropsii]

hey wait a second thomas hewitt is a valid troll name

Yup!! He’s also literally the most Vriska-type Slasher to ever exist. It’s actually pretty interesting. I’m going to infodump about Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies largely unprompted, now. Should this be put on my literal dedicated Horror blog instead? Yes. But for now, it’s a relevant topic to this blog, so who cares.

Content Warning: References to/Conversation About Violence, Gore, Self Harm, and Cannibalism.

Ok. Nerd rant time.

His life sucks so fucking bad that you can really see how and why he got to where he is now, and you really want to root for him, but… He descends into doing some things that are so sadistic that you really get emotionally torn between whether or not you should like him, lol. Personally, I love him to pieces. He’s prime Leatherface. They really nailed down the core of what makes Leatherface such an interesting character, while also getting super dark, violent, and serious with it. I recommend his Timeline if you can stomach some pretty gnarly gore. And when I say pretty gnarly, I mean it’s really fucking gnarly. They went a lot farther with it than the Original Timeline, and the name Texas Chainsaw Massacre fits here more than ever.

I think the really heavy gore and violence suits it, though. The change from the Sawyers to the Hewitts definitely did the story well- the Sawyers are kind of hard to take seriously, they’re really goofy, and the bulk of their strengths as individual characters and as a family lie in comedy. This is why Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is the best movie in the fucking world.

The Hewitts, though…? Jesus fucking Christ. Not only is taking them seriously not a challenge, they’re downright terrifying. Their shared overt sadism goes above and beyond whatever was going on with the Sawyers, and that sadism takes itself much more seriously. This shift in tone is best shown by comparing both of these Timelines’s versions of Leatherface.

Fun fact, for the uninitiated. Leatherface is often touted as the “Big Bad” of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He is the iconic Slasher to come out of the franchise.

Now, what if I told you Leatherface isn’t who you should really be afraid of? Because Leatherface isn’t a “Big Bad” or anything. Yes, he’s definitely large- consistently clocking at over 6 feet tall, and built like a literal god damn fridge- and he’s definitely… Well, trying to kill and eat people, but he’s not at all the scariest person in the franchise by any means. Leatherface is designed to be kind of a sympathetic character, actually. He’s consistently a troubled disabled man who gets pushed around and bullied/abused by his family members constantly. He usually kills because he’s either scared, or ordered to do it.

You can see this the most in the first iteration of Leatherface, named Bubba Sawyer. Bubba is genuinely… Really fun to watch. I say this in the least infantilizing way possible, but he’s kind of adorable. He’s the softest one in the family, and acts as a “Mother Hen” type character. Despite his staunch loyalty to the family, they still really treat him like shit. He’s afraid of the outside world, because he’s been locked away from it his entire life. Threats to the family drive him into a panic, and if he fails to protect them, he spirals into a breakdown. He’s a sweetheart, if you ignore the whole “Murder and Cannibalism” thing!! I couldn’t fix him and I don’t want to, but god knows he’s a neat little dude.

Thomas Hewitt, on the other hand? He’s a different case entirely.

His backstory is fucked up, but very sympathetic. Mother died in childbirth, and he was thrown in a dumpster and left to die. He was then found by the Hewitts, who adopted him and raised him as their own. He has a pretty severe skin condition that led to him getting bullied really, really badly growing up, and now he has such a high level of self hatred that he’s noted to have a “penchant for self mutilation.” You can see his self harm scars in TCM: The Beginning, if you look. Him getting treated so horribly by everyone around him, as well as his family being… Well, the Hewitts, led him to develop a rather interesting trait for a Leatherface- actual real Sadism. He is so, so interesting to watch.

Sympathy is at the heart of Leatherface as a character. He’s never the worst person in the family by a long shot, and oftentimes is intentionally written in a way where if you take a moment to try to view the movie from his own perspective, he’s just terrified and trying to protect himself and his family. He’s desperately, horribly afraid of losing everything he’s ever known. He’s the only Slasher I’m aware of that acts not out of Malice, but out of Fear.

Tommy really likes to test that notion of Sympathy, and that’s why he’s so god damn fun to think about for me. Every element for a perfect Leatherface portrayal is there, they just took the aspect of Sadism in the entire family and cranked it up to fucking 100. I love this bitch so much. He does some severely fucked up things, but you almost want to root for him? They level the playing field really well by making the Victim Cast consist of genuinely pretty mean and intolerable people.

You want to root for the Final Girl, because the situation she’s in is genuinely fucked up to hell and back, but you also want to root for Tommy, because he’s been through the god damn meat grinder and you can tell he’s got no other choice… You don’t want to root for the Final Girl, because the Victim Cast consists of insufferable people, but you don’t want to root for Tommy, because holy shit some of the stuff he does is unnecessary. But also you do, because his design is so kickass it makes up for everything, but also you don’t, because his family sucks and doesn’t deserve to win, but also you do, because you want him and him alone to win. It’s complicated!! I’m absolutely obsessed with it.

Another Slasher with a valid Troll name is Leslie Vernon. I fucking love Leslie Vernon. Do not ask me about Leslie Vernon. Do not ask me about Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon in general. We will be here for several hours, and I’ve already reached my maximum amount of Horror Movie Autism for the day on this blog.

#at this point I use my horror blog to post about my OCs way more than I do to post about slashers and stuff #I’ve been using this blog for posting about existing horror WAAYYYY more than my horror blog #it’s almost comedic actually lol #i guess there’s just something really fun about infodumping to new people and introducing them to new media!! #I’m not gonna ‘main-tag’ this- I don’t need horror/slasher fans following thinking this is something I plan on posting here regularly #only to get barraged by niche homestuck analyses LMFAO #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms #horrorposting #<== tacking that onto any post involving horror movies now

[schmweed]

#Freddy Newandyke #Mr Orange #Tim Roth #Reservoir Dogs #I love scenes where Larry is looked at with barely disguised dazed adoration and utter smitten deference #because he absolutely deserves both #I mean it's the same look he got while talking abt cutting fingers and thumbs ffs! #Who hung your moon Freddy? #also this is a HILARIOUS scene because of how Freddy acts towards Pink #all smug like he played any part in Larry's excellent pro-tipping explanation #Freddy you adorable goof -- I understand you perfectly! who WOULDN'T look like that at Larry? #my gifs #I love you ezgif people! #haha Freddy's smug smirk is comedy GOLD #how is this movie touted as super violent? it's everything BUT violent if you look away during the torture scene #or rather it IS about violence -- just not blood and whatnot #but the violence of betrayal and inexplicable powerful bonds that sweep everything else away #a bond that one man gave up everything for #poor poor Larry <3 <3 <3 #apart from how hilarious Freddy's smirk is it's also something else though #I love how it shows that he feels he's automatically a part of whatever stand Larry's taking #and he can share in the credit and smug smirking all he likes -- that's Larry's doing #I LOVE THIS MOVIE! #and the last gif where Freddy pretends to be convinced haha

[silverleafnightshade-blog]

The Eyes of Laura Mars

Released in 1978, The Eyes of Laura Mars is set in the glimmering yet gritty world of NYC haute couture fashion. Mad Magazine parodied the film as “The Eyes of Lurid Mess” and rightly so, for it definitely has plot issues and some grade-A-Virginia-ham overacting. However, director Irvin Kershner managed to capture a whiff of the cultural crossover as the NYC scene shifted from disco to punk. Often touted as the first American giallo film, The Eyes of Laura Mars tidily ticks off the boxes of the Italian genre: a mix of gorgeous and grimy settings, the gruesome murder of beautiful people, and many misdirections before the killer is finally revealed. Added to the mix is Ms. Virginia Ham herself (Faye Dunaway), a hairy Brad Dourif, and a preternaturally prehistoric Tommy Lee Jones. Dourif is only four years younger than TLJ in real life, but he looks like a bearded baby next to TLJ’s tire-treaded brow. Hell, TLJ is six years younger than Dunaway, but there’s not even a scratch of the cougar in their relationship.

Faye Dunaway of course plays the main character, a superstar high fashion photographer who begins to have disturbing visions of murder. Fun fact: the actual images of famous fashion photogs Rebecca Blake and the so-called “King of Kink” Helmut Newton were used in the film.

Speaking of kink, Barbra Streisand was offered the main role (it helped that she was dating producer Jon Peters at the time) but turned it down because she thought the film’s violent, sexual content was too out-there for her image.

The film opens with a murderous sequence, which turns out to be one of Laura’s nightmares. She awakens in her rather spare and severe bedroom,

and then wanders out to her living room, aka The Neutral Zone. Beige and brown rule the day, as does that giant rooster sculpture. From kitchen kitsch to highbrow decor? Huh. And oof, so. Much. Carpeting!

Laura flips through some negatives and tries to put the nightmare behind her. Soon, driver Tommy (Brad Dourif) is ferrying Laura off to the gala reception for a new publication of her photos. It looks like maybe the exterior was shot at one of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s side doors. The interior looks somewhat Studio 54-inspired, though.

Hiiiiiiyyyyyeeee! I’m just a photograph, don’tcha worry.

Laura meets cute-ish with Detective John Neville (TLJ), as cute as can be when one’s publisher has been horribly murdered with an ice pick. Neville came for the questioning, but he stayed for the hors d’oeuvres, or rather, he looks a bit hungry for a Mars Bar. Laura goes home and rings up her bestie, who happens to be dating Laura’s ex-husband Michael (a very slimy yet somehow sexy Raul Julia). Everyone calms each other down, and soon enough, Laura heads off for a shoot at Columbus Circle. The concept is a bit S&M, models in lingerie and furs fighting in front of the husks of burning cars...

The concept was inspired by photog Chris von Wangenheim, and so fitting in front of what my father once called “The Devil’s Arsehole” (don’t feel special, C.C., he said that about every Washington D.C. roundabout too). The intersection didn’t get the moniker until 1892, the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s “discovery” of the New World, when a giant statue of the old man was erected. From the invention of the car on, Columbus Circle was considered a hazardous spot for pedestrians. Given the circle’s bad rap for most of the 20th century, it seems quaint to remember that Olmsted intentionally designed the traffic circle as the grand entrance to Central Park in 1857. By 1978, Columbus Circle was “roundly” (oh ho ho) derided as a dangerous thoroughfare. In 1979, architecture critic Paul Goldberger said that the intersection was "a chaotic jumble of streets that can be crossed in about 50 different ways—all of them wrong." A redesign of the circle’s aesthetics and traffic flow began in 1991, and by the Naughty-Aughties, Columbus Circle had even won a few awards for landscape architecture and urban design.

Neville shows up again at Laura’s set at Chelsea Piers. This is my favorite set in the movie, with the fabulous Sterling St. Jacques dancing around and a lot of blown-out color and drama going on.

It’s also one of our last scenes with poor Lulu and Michelle, alas. I actually quite like both of their characters, so silly and yet so sassy. They have the best outgoing answering machine message, and it made me feel so nostalgic for both answering machines, answering machine messages, and that kind of close relationship you’d have with a roommate. That is the kind of relationship that can only be built after hearing all your messages, and knowing all your secrets, unvarnished and unedited by a brunch re-telling. Sigh.

Laura’s studio is amazing - it’s enormous with tons of old windows, stunning harbor views, and some convenient soft spots that are perfect for sexy times with Neville.

Donald (René motherfucking Murat Auberjonois) is such a great character. He’s Laura’s long-suffering agent, and although at times walking the stereotypical line, he is quite comfortably un-closeted. Whenever someone tries to throw homophobic shade his way, he shines a light right up their asses. I do not love the character’s decor choices, though - a bit too Italianate for me, although who can resist a red damask wallpaper and this goddamn face? Not me, friends.

Speaking of Italian classics, Frank Adonis makes an appearance as Sal, Neville’s slightly unhinged partner. I like this shot of him surveying Laura’s apartment with a “mmm, not bad,” expression.

Frank just shuffled off this mortal coil in late 2018, R.I.P. Weird fact: although he’s the Italian guy you recognize from everything, his Wiki page is in French.

SPOILERS, sort of: Neville goes to see Tommy at his spectacularly depressing apartment, and the visit quickly takes a turn for the worse. Tommy stabs a patrolman while escaping arrest, but the Sal the psycho just opens fire on what appears to be the entire East Village, and Tommy est la morte. Neville rings up Laura to tell her the killer has been caught, and pack your bag, baybeee, they are going away! Laura begins to select some careful neutrals to coordinate with the lady Derringer gifted by Neville, when she is suddenly struck by another vision.

Poor Michael gets ‘picked in the elevator of Laura’s building, and the killer is en route to her apartment! Laura manages to lock the front door just in time. Neville soon comes crashing through the balcony window, and this is where the ending gets super giallo: as he begins babbling about Tommy’s terrible upbringing, Neville accidentally reveals that it is he, Neville, who is the killer. But it’s not really Neville! No, it’s his other personality that did the killing. That personality is also apparently responsible for how nicely Neville fills out a black turtleneck, as well as for finishing Neville’s dissertation and keeping the bills paid. The real Neville struggles back to the surface; to protect his true love, he basically shoots himself using Laura’s gun (and trigger finger, as she is holding said gun at the time). The final shot is of Laura calling the cops, and her final line? “I’m Laura Mars.” If there is any shred of happy ending to this story, it might be that she has to rip out that fucking bloodstained carpet. Maybe there’s a nice parquet floor under there? I know that hating on carpeting is low-pile fruit, but there is just no way for mere mortals to keep wall-to-wall carpeting from getting disgusting.

Interesting fact: John Carpenter wrote the spec script for this film, but Kershner’s finished product took some hot turns in the rewrite. Carpenter was still credited despite his protests, but luckily the mixed reviews didn’t affect the success of his next project, Halloween. It’s been nice to revisit some giallo, although I think I’m going to go back to the real-deal Italian giallo next month. I might also be leaving this platform, as sad as that makes me. Tumblr has been doing some bullshit flagging of posts that are very LGBTQ-unfriendly, and well, they are also buggy as hell. I had this post written a week ago but the site kept crashing as I was trying to update. At any rate, stay tuned for any updates, or as I likely know all three of you reading this, I’ll let you know if there’s a new site.

[ciaossu-imagines]

1004851 for the Scary OTP Meme then 😆😆😆 Your imagines are so fun, btw!

Aww, thanks for the compliment, my lovely anon! I’ll for sure do this up for you - I haven’t written a polyship with four people in a while so it was kind of fun to imagine this! I hope you enjoy!

Which one is more fond of scary movies

It would have to be Byakuran or the shared lover because Shoichi hates scary movies, though their lover can usually rope him into watching one with them (he’s so scared throughout), and Spanner’s generally indifferent to them. Byakuran, however, loves scary movies of all kinds but is super picky about his scary movies. He definitely talks throughout the movie and makes fun of it if it’s pretty bad.

Which one gets the most excited about Halloween

Halloween is Byakuran’s favourite holiday. Even if his shared lover really was into Halloween, not even they could top his love for the holiday. The second October officially starts, it is all Halloween all the time for Byakuran. Halloween music, including a change of ringtone, Halloween episodes of television shows, horror novels, autumn treats and Halloween candies. Of course, he’s also already planning out how to fit the most Halloween into the month and looks forward to making costumes for everyone and trying to figure out if they should host a haunted house or go to one. He just gets very, very excited about it.

Which one would be more likely to survive the apocalypse

Honestly, it would be Shoichi. He’s really intelligent and takes his time to plan out things. He’s willing to do almost anything to survive as well, whether it be lying, stealing, or anything else he needs to do and he’s patient enough to remain cautious even when things seem to be getting better.

Which one would literally kill for the other

There’s no way to pick, honestly. Byakuran would be the quickest to resort to violence but though both Spanner and Shoichi would try more peaceful methods first, if it came down to saving their shared lover by taking action and killing a man or letting the lover die through their inaction, both men would always choose to act.

Which one likes to scare or startle the other

Spanner actually is quite guilty of this. Despite wearing big, clunky boots, he moves rather softly and it’s easy for him to get behind someone without them ever noticing. He thinks it’s funny to see them jump as they turn and find him right there, especially so if it’s their shared lover. While he thinks Shoichi and Byakuran’s reactions are amusing (though it’s really hard for him to get Byakuran), he thinks their shared lover looks downright adorable whenever they are startled by his antics.

Which one is more likely to need comforting when they get spooked

This is Shoichi to a tee. The poor thing hates getting spooked and scared. It makes his stomach hurt something awful. He hates it. Unfortunately, he ended up with a lover who enjoyed Halloween and somehow ended up in an open relationship involving another guy who absolutely loves scaring people...he goes through so many antacids. 

Which one always puts on a brave face

Spanner hates to show his fear to his friends and especially to his lover. He’ll try to act as calmly as he possibly can and to find things to distract him. 

Which one would be more dangerous if they suddenly became violent

Shoichi. There’s a lot of pent up rage inside that body of his. That boy has put up with some shit and dealt with it like a champ but if he was ever pushed just too far, it would end up ugly. Like Jack Torrance or Annie Wilkes type ugly. Thankfully, he’s got some surprisingly strong morals and is arguably the most sane member of this little polyship so it’s very unlikely that he’d ever go off his rocker and turn violent. 

Which one would be more likely to commit a crime

Byakuran commits several a month for seemingly no other reason than shits and giggles even after he’s learned from his past and has made steps to become a better person. He’s really bad for jaywalking, opening other people’s mail, and littering. If he drives, he has a bad habit of running red lights (but normally only if there’s no one else around).

Which one believes in ghosts

Byakuran does. Spanner and Shoichi both like to tout science as fact and ghosts as fiction but Shoichi is still afraid of ghosts. Go figure, right? 

Which one likes to watch spooky show on television

Byakuran. Like I said, once October 1 hits, it’s all Halloween, all the times, all across the board.

Which one would propose the idea of holding a seance

Surprising no one, it’s Byakuran. If he can’t convince Shoichi and Spanner to join him, he’ll downright force his lover and some of the Wreaths to do it with him through whining or bribery or some such manner. He just really likes the idea of a seance. It’s so spooky and gothy and just fabulous.

Which one has nightmares more often

Shoichi has a lot of bad dreams and doesn’t sleep well. Depending on whether his lover also shared this trait with him, they’d bond over their bad and shared lack of sleep.

Which one would want to explore a real haunted house

Spanner doesn’t believe there’s any such thing as a real haunted house. Shoichi wants to stay as far away from that house as possible while pretending he doesn’t believe in haunted houses. Byakuran, meanwhile, is ordering Ghostbusters costumes for everyone and trying to figure out the best course of action for when they get into the house.

#replies #katekyo hitman reborn #khr #byakuran gesso #shoichi irie #spanner #headcanons #halloween

[u23art]

A LOOK AT ATTACK ON TITAN (BOTH LIVE ACTION FILMS)

As a movie by itself, it can be considered competent, but as a reimagining of a series with lore, I think I hate these movies. AoT has taken the world by storm, it is a cultural phenomenon recognized all around the world by adults and children alike. Maybe that’s a bit of stretch, but it is highly popular, and as is the case with such things movies will be made to capitalize on the property. But instead of doing the sensible thing and make an animated movie with a throwaway villain and cranked up animation like most other franchises, we get 2 live action movies. And by 2 live action movies, I mean one movie split in two and separated by a crudely placed recap montage.

The first film establishes a similar premise that we’re familiar with from the manga and anime. Human beings are driven to the brink of extinction by giant man eating titans and are forced to live behind walls. Eren, Mikasa and Armin are staring in awe of the wall when suddenly the colossal titan appears. Taking several kicks to punch the iconic hole in the wall yet somehow there’s still rubble flying around for many minutes, the titans inevitably get in and get down to munching. Eren is out of shape and gets forced into a shelter by a slow moving crowd and is forced to watch Mikasa “get killed” by the titans. Time passes and Eren is now in the survey corps, and the 3D gear has been conveniently invented to fight the titans. So they are sent out to the boonies and they are all but wiped out. Thankfully Mikasa and Shikishima save them, but Eren gets eaten, then he turns into a titan without any of the subtlety, kills the surrounding titans, changes back, his little body pops out and the movie pretty much ends.

The second movie begins with a brief recap of the events of the last movie, then we cut to a scene of Eren’s parents injecting him with the titan power before the military police arrest them or kill them. We then cut to Eren in chains and on trial after it’s discovered he can become a titan. Before the matter can be settled, a titan who’s a cross between Eren’s titan form and the armored titan steals him away. Eren then wakes up to a soothing song from a juke box and Shikishima is there to give some exposition. The setting they reside is the post apocalyptic leftovers of what was once Japan, and the titans are a failed japanese weapons experiment turned into an epidemic. Meanwhile the survey corps is picking a bomb to use on the wall to block the hole with rubble. Later as they approach the wall, they meet Shikishima, Eren and militants touting rocket launchers and fully automatic assault rifles, and fighting breaks out. Turns out Shikishima is the bad titan and he and Eren fight, the colossal titan shows up to blow hot air, Jean dies, Shikishima changes his ways and then shoves the bomb down the colossal titan’s throat, he explodes, Eren and Mikasa get a close up while looking out on the ruins of a japanese city, and the movie ends.

It became very evident that the story was overhauled from the source material in order for it to focus around Eren. This to me becomes the first major problem with the movie. In the original series, Eren had some shining character moments, but that was largely credited towards the use of subtlety. Especially when Eren becomes a Titan for the first time, in the live film we immediately see the transformation upon his consumption by the beard titan, and it’s so abrupt that it becomes more of a plot convenience than a plot twist. In the original story, Eren would often be put to the side in order for us to actually miss him a little and give some spot light to the rest of the cast.

A lot of tension is lost because all the plot convenience happens to the benefit of Eren all at once. Nothing is paced out the way it was in the manga to give the emotional impact that it should. It makes him feel like an 80s actions hero.

The second biggest problem is they have removed a lot of characters, which is a good and bad thing. Good in the sense that films won’t be crammed with characters and glazes over arcs like in other adaptations such as the Rurouni Kenshin movies. However, they removed a lot of vital characters needed to give depth to the motivations of other characters. For example, Eren’s parents were removed (at least for the first movie), and his motivations for fighting titans is replaced with “losing” Mikasa. Eren’s original squad was removed and pretty much replaced by a single mom to carry the emotional weight. All the cool and seasoned captains and commanders were removed on top of that.

Also Levi was removed despite how vital and VERY POPULAR he is. And he is replaced with Shikishima, and I really hate this guy. He isn’t much help, he lacks history or depth by being crudely shoe horned into the story and Mikasa is given a romantic interest in him as a lousy attempt at anchoring him down to relevancy. All it succeeded in doing was pissing me off. Not to mention he eats apples, which I’m pretty sure is just a gimmick to get us to think he’s cool while he stands “stoically” on a building top while people die around him.

Other issues I had with the movie were as follows. 1. Passable Green Screen but that’s to be expected from japanese cinema and it wouldn’t be fair to judge this on the same prerequisites that I judge movies with like Captain America or super hero movies in general.

2. The climax and the 1 hour last half of the movie takes place in the ruins of apartment buildings, this stagnant scene usage becomes boring relatively quickly.

3. I can’t sympathize for all the people that died either. The story opens by stating that the Titans appeared 100 years ago, yet none of the fail safes exist as they did in the manga to keep the body count low. Also this movie uses the lazy horror film trope of making people move very little in order to let the slow moving monsters catch up and hopefully look scary but it became irritating to watch after a while.

4. If they were going to add something interesting, they should have expanded on the story from Mikasa’s perspetive. It’s implied that she’s getting a lot of experience pretty much surviving in the thick of Titan territory, that would have been a much more interesting story as long as Shikishima is retconned with extreme prejudice.

Character traits are over exaggerated making the characters into cartoonish shells of their main series counterparts.

Sasha keeps eating potato after potato after potato.

Hanji actually made me tear up, her personality was played up so much. By that I mean just take her obsessive analytical mind and childish satisfaction and add yelling. Lots of yelling.

Eren yells at the sky a lot. Stop being such a queen live action Eren.

And that’s just the first movie.

In just an hour and 20 minutes, the second movie squeezes in an origin story of this actually being our world and Titans are an experiment gone wrong. It squeezes in Eren’s parents at the beginning. Let’s see, there are some automatic rifles, some surface to air missiles and more bad green screen. However, the two points of gratification I got from the second movie were Jean dying and the Titan fights. The titan fights used actual actors in model cities just like monster movies of the past, it was violent, it was dopey, but it was entertaining.

These movies are just not good, or at least this one movie isn’t good. Too much is crammed in yet too many essential elements are removed. Mikasa is a sour deviation in the long run with her dependence towards her awful new love interest. It annoyed me the the 3D gear lost all of its history and happens just about instantaneously for the benefit of the current circumstances. And the characters they added to replace others are just……dorky.

Both Live Action Attack on Titan films get a collective 5 out of 10.

Sure the 2nd movie’s ending is sequel bait, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

#Mister23 #Attack on Titan