L'Attaque des Titans : La Fin du monde

With a shorter running time, you'd be forgiven for thinking the closing chapter of this adaptation felt somewhat, rushed. Yes, there's still the high production values, beautiful cinematography, and attention to detail - not to mention the added bonus of the armoured titan and colossal titan (played by the wonderful Jun Kunimura) in action - yet something feels missing.

Some of that is the smaller cast, with the characters moved out of the city, and some of it is less horror as very few titans show up on their journey. The film spends the majority of its time playing out as a rescue mission for Eren (played by the handsome Haruma Miura), which leads to some big action pieces, lots of blood splattering, and some great shots with the team on their wires!

While stunning and impressive seeing the titans in action, the overall finale seemed a little underwhelming considering what Eren could really do with his ability. Still, putting the obvious changes and flaws aside, the film entertains and wraps things up as a two-parter.

Overall: Best watched back-to-back with part one, the conclusion could have been bigger on time and action, but ultimately, entertains!

Or maybe not, as the second part of "Attack on Titan" is curiously devoid of the big people, who seem to be busy somewhere else.

The first part of the manga adaptation differed a lot from the original source but was still a fun enough time at the movies, with acceptable action, passable CGI and a pervasive feeling of fear and threat, the titans and the story behind them scary enough to forget the over-the-top moments and some not very good acting. The second part, though, just feels like someone decided to fill one hour and a half of randomness. Oh, and Satomi Ishihara's Zoë Hange shouting. Non-stop. For the whole movie.

We were left with a surprising moment at the end of the first movie: Eren could become a titan too. The second movie starts just afterwards, with him in chains and the leader of the army not very happy of seeing him. From that moment, any chance of the movie making sense jumps out of the window. Sadly, any atmosphere, sense of fear or cool action go out too leaving the viewer with not much.

That the plot is very random and the explanation of the titans kind of really-you-couldn't-think-about-anything-else? could be forgiven if anything else made sense. It is not that the actors overact and chew through their scenes as if there was no tomorrow; it's that they don't have many other options, as the dialogue is terrible, and the direction lacking.

All in all, the movie fails, and it's a pity because it could have been quite an interesting study of militarism or society control. It can be mildly entertaining, and it is short enough that it never becomes terribly boring, but it's just purposeless and empty.

I actually liked the first part of this quite a lot. Characters were developed, story was set up, really creepy looking ghoulish giants as the opponents. If it weren't for the over the top Japanese acting, it would have been quite cool.

Unfortunately, the second part of the story - this film - is not as good as the first. It turns a humanity survival thing into a sort of Resident Evil, just as ridiculously acted and with reveals that inhibit rather than use the potential created with the first movie.

I have not watched the anime or read the manga. I know people are upset about the film not following the plot there. I have been just as outraged when films destroyed by image of a thing I love. However, you need to also consider this series of the movies as a stand alone story, maybe a reboot, who knows. The first part was very good at that, the second just obliterated that option.

Bottom line: first part worth watching, second part not so much, but it would make no sense to not see it after going through the first film. Overall, a bit of a failure.

...because now there's focus on the story & characters. While the main trio of Eren, Mikasa & Armin remain quite bland characterisations we do get some bloom from Hange, the captain and the officer.

The story is more coherent and somewhat engaging, the setting is still pretty good. Some more dynamic ODM action and a fun 'mecha' fight which recalls all those Godzilla-vs flicks.

It's honestly worth your time if you're curious and didn't think the first movie was too terrible. There's a lot less comically-gruesome Titan-feasting, but this sequel didn't need it.

Clearly tho', the animated series is where the really good stuff is. That's a 9/10 series throughout....all killer, no filler.

Yup. Not good. In fact the first film is a lot better, which tells you how much I didn't like this film.