Just watch the anime.
Warning: Spoilers follow.
After seeing the live action Attack on Titan: Part 1, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue to the second part. IGN’s review called Part 1 a “poor adaptation” that “butchers its story,” and Part 2 isn’t much better. Its characters are flatter alive than they are when crushed by Titans — the antagonists’ motives are all but nonexistent, and the few characters I liked were still awkward. Part 2 does deliver on the Titan front as well as some story and worldbuilding, but I found myself wanting to read the manga instead for a non-butchered version of that story.
We want to hear it.
Part 2 carries on with Part 1’s altered storyline, which isn’t a great start. It does, however, attempt to answer open questions from the anime. There’s some stuff about a government conspiracy plus a Titan apocalypse history lesson, and all of it could have been cool if it had been done well. Instead, the bad guys are cartoonishly bad, constantly exuding weird bravado and swagger. The government conspiracy angle is really heavy-handed, and their motives are unclear (but not in a cool, mysterious way). I only managed to follow along with their shenanigans because I’ve seen the anime and know a bit about the world, but that knowledge also heightened the disappointment I felt at weak plot “twists.”
The rest of the characters don’t work well, either. The comic relief ones come off as excessively awkward instead of funny, and the main characters are bland. Mikasa, who’s a skilled, strong-willed main character in the source material, is insufferably pouty and reduced to the object of a love triangle in the movie. It’s not even a compelling love triangle, since one of the weird swagger boys is involved. (Why would she even like him?) She’s supposed to be bitter or something, but her angst is out of control. She always looks how being 13 feels, as opposed to looking haunted by death and battle.
We want to hear it.
Eren, the main protagonist, isn’t so bad and definitely the better option in Mikasa’s unnecessary love triangle. He’s not an especially good character in any version of Attack on Titan, though, so that’s not saying too much. He’s just okay. My favorite characters were actually Armin, who I don’t particularly care for in the anime, and the super-weird science lady Hange. Armin actually makes sense as a character within the movie’s story and worldbuilding, and Hange’s obsession with dissecting Titans and shooting RPGs also fits in relatively well. Everyone else was underdeveloped and nondescript, so when they inevitably died at the hands (and teeth) of Titans, I didn’t even have a chance to care.
The Titans themselves are incredibly creepy. Even though I wasn’t invested in character deaths, I was wincing a lot — the awful squish of blood underfoot, the crunch of bones in teeth, and the chilling howls of Titans were all the kind of disturbing I want from Attack on Titan. There’s also some relatively cool Titan vs. Titan fighting, but it’s dampened a bit by helpless “soldiers” standing around and watching.
We want to hear it.
The movie ends with a short scene that hints at a secret about its world, and I actually found it interesting. I can’t say I want more of the terrible characters or weak alternate story arcs, but I would like to know more about the world of Attack on Titan. It was enough of a tease that I might begrudgingly watch a sequel, if only to see what answers they come up with.
Attack on Titan: Part 2 does nothing to save its terrible first part. If the story is somewhat interesting, it’s ruined by awful, flat characters and weak justifications for their actions. Cool Titan fighting is marred by characters’ blank stares and glaring inaction, and the worldbuilding is sadly limited. It’s at least not unwatchable, but with several other ways to experience Attack on Titan, why would you watch it?
