Fantasy action "Attack of the Titans. The first film: The Cruel World ”, reviews of which among critics are ambiguous - a Japanese fantastic motion picture shot on a popular manga.
The story of the film
The author of the manga "Shineki no Kyojin" (translated from Japanese as "Attacking Giant") is Hajime Isayama. He drew a comic strip on a post-apocalyptic theme, creating a world in which people were faced with danger in the form of bloodthirsty giants. The manga was released in 2009. She immediately gained great fame. On its basis, an anime series was created, four computer games in the popular “visual novel” genre in Japan, and a browser game. In 2012, it became known that the manga was going to be filmed.
Plot of the film
It is slightly different from the comic book. The changes that were made in the plot do not affect the key points of the manga. They were made to give a more dramatic picture. Fantasy "Attack of the Titans. The first film: The Cruel World ”, reviews of which were more positive, shows the viewer the story of an alternative Earth of the period of the XIX century. Human civilization was destroyed by suddenly emerging giants. They reached more than one hundred meters in height (in the manga their growth is about 60 meters) and were weak-minded. The Titans turned out to be cannibals - they attacked human settlements and ate the inhabitants. The earthly army was powerless before the onslaught of monstrous creatures - the giants regenerated at great speed. Any wound inflicted by him healed in a matter of minutes. Even the explosion could not kill the titans. But they were not immortal. Like the hero of myths Achilles, they had a weak spot - the neck. When cutting the cervical vertebrae, the titans died. But their huge growth did not allow them to approach the distance of the blow. Then a device for spatial maneuvering was invented. The device was mounted on the back. With it, you could move in the air, clinging to objects and walls.
The remains of mankind erected three huge walls and hid behind them from giants. Each wall is a special zone in which there were settlements, agricultural land and defense troops.
Fantasy Action “Attack of the Titans. The first film: The Cruel World ”, whose rating among science fiction fans is quite high, begins a hundred years after the appearance of the giants. People are accustomed to a peaceful life behind a ring of huge walls. Even stories about giants are already perceived as fables. The main character, Eren Yeager, feels locked up in the walls and dreams of getting outside. Once he runs away to the wall, where his friends, Mikasa and Armin are trying to stop him. They meet a patrol near the wall, and an old friend of the Eren family, who is serving in the army, says that the government decided to send an intelligence unit behind the wall to find out what is happening outside and whether the danger remains. Volunteers are needed in the squad, and young people can join the scouts. At this moment, a giant attacks the wall. Giants penetrate the opening and begin to kill civilians. Eren survived with a miracle, but Mikasa perishes before their eyes.
Titans
Who they are, where and why they came from - in the first part of the picture this is not said. But the long-awaited sequel to the film, released in the fall, provides answers to many questions. The viewer learns the secret of the origin of the giants that destroyed humanity. However, the creators of the fantasy "Attack of the Titans" do not reveal all the cards - much remains behind the scenes. In particular, the viewer did not know how the arrest of Eren’s parents ended and who raised him.
In the first film, the titans are shown by huge, demented, male and female creatures who wander aimlessly in search of food. Humans are the darling of the giants. But what they eat in the absence of human casualties is unknown.
Among the giants there are children. They also prey on humans. In addition to ordinary giants, there are giants of incredible sizes. One of them destroyed a part of the outer wall, behind which people lived in peace and quiet for a hundred years and the giants penetrated inside, bringing destruction and death.
Killing giants is very difficult. They have an incredible rate of body regeneration. Only a blow to the base of the neck can destroy a monster. At the same time, it literally melts, leaving behind a fading fetid mass.
main characters
The main characters of the film are young people who have just left adolescence.
Eren is the main character of the film. It has an incredible ability that will help in the fight against the titans.
Mikasa is Eren’s childhood friend in love with him. A quiet and romantic girl who dreams of ever seeing the sea.
Armin is a friend of Eren and Mikasa, a physically weak, but very smart young man.
Fantasy "Attack of the Titans. Movie One: The Cruel World "- viewers reviews
It would seem that fans of the manga should have positively evaluated the work done by the creators of the film on the adaptation of the comic book. But some of them did not like that the main characters of the picture were not enough similar to their prototypes from manga. The outrage was caused by the absence of some comic book characters in the film.
As for viewers who are not familiar with the plot of the manga, here the reviews are mostly positive. The filmmakers filled it with spectacular and bloody scenes of titan attacks on cities. They look dynamic and large. But with the appearance of the giants, not everything turned out well. They should cause fear, but the first thing the viewer feels when looking at the naked monsters is disgust.
"Attack of the Titans. The first film: Cruel World "- reviews of the film critics
The main dissatisfaction was caused by special effects, which, according to reviewers, could be done better. However, a simple viewer is unlikely to notice any flaws in the visual effects of the picture. But the critics rated the original script positively. Despite some plot inconsistencies and predictability of certain moments, the story told in the picture is of deep interest. The filmmakers filled it with many semantic allusions: the ruined wall, the cannibals-giants, revenge for the deceased friend.
Can you call a successful adaptation of the popular Japanese manga? It all depends on whether the viewer is familiar with the original. Fans of the manga consider the film a failure, the rest of the story of the confrontation between humanity and the titans came to taste.