Attack on Titan: Part 2

I really enjoyed the first Attack on Titan live feature, which may have not always been faithful but was pretty exciting. The second movie, on the other hand, is a nonsensical piece of tripe with little to recommend it.

There shouldn't actually be two movies. These were filmed at the same time and the second movie is full of flashbacks to the first one, so you could easily tighten these two 90-minute movies into one that was under two and a half hours. Alas, this wasn't done.

This movie makes no real sense from the first scene, in which Eren is tied up in a weird way and a mad commander screams. There's a surprise early on when the movie actually explains how Titans came to be, something the anime series has been dropping hints at for years without giving any real answers (no idea if the movie's answers will be the same in the anime or manga).

Outside of that, the movie is just a fairly incomprehensible story involving a bomb and some big titans that feels disjointed and poorly thought out. Characters do incredibly stupid things (as they did in the first movie) and no one's motivations make any sense. And the big action sequences in the end are less enthralling than the best action of the first movie.

I do enjoy Satomi Ishihara's comical take on Hange Zoe, but the other characters are virtually devoid of personality.

Had the big action scene of the second movie been allowed to build out of the action of the first movie it might have all worked, but the producers clearly wanted to get two movies out of one, with very bad results.

"Attack on Titan: Part 2" is an Action - Fantasy movie and the sequel of "Attack on Titan: Part 1", which continues where the story left off, with humanity continuing its desperate battle against the Titans. Eren Jaeger and his friends must confront new dangers as they learn more about the Titans' origins.

Since I had already watched the first movie I knew what to expect. The movie retained some of the impressive visuals and action sequences that made the first part watchable. The Titans themselves looked terrifying and they were better than the first movie. The reliance of the movie on CGI and fast-paced action often sacrificed meaningful character development or emotional depth. The story felt rushed in some moments with many important plot points be presented into a short runtime. To sum up, I have to say that "Attack on Titan: Part 2" is nice and it can be considered a visually striking continuation of the first movie so, if you have already watched the first movie I recommend you to watch this one, too.

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!

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

...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.