Attack on Titan: The Movie Part 1 Review

It goes without saying that Attack on Titan has exploded in popularity since the original manga received its anime adaptation in early 2013. Since then the series received countless manga spin-offs, two recap anime movies and OVAs, and a two-part live action movie. I’m here to review the first part of the Attack on Titan live action movie, which adapts the source in a rather interesting manner.

The live action take of Attack on Titan changes up the setting from Germany to Japan due to director Shinji Higuchi choosing to film the movie on Battleship Island (Gunkanjima), which is located off the coast of Nagasaki. It’s worth noting up-front for the Levi fans that this change resulted in Levi being written out of the movie completely. Due to Levi not being Japanese in origin, and his name including the katakana character ‘vu’ (which no Japanese name normally includes), the director felt that it would be wrong to to change his name or have a Japanese actor play a Caucasian role. However, to make up for this removal a Levi-like character was created to fill the gap.

The first part of the movie is focused around the very early stages of the main Attack on Titan story – with numerous differences. The colossal Titan comes along and smashes a hole in the wall, just like in the original, allowing numerous titans to invade the area behind the outer wall and cause chaos for the residents. After waging a futile battle against the Titan onslaught, the humans take shelter and later evacuate to an area behind one of the inner walls. However, the torment isn’t over yet. With the farmlands now inhabited by titans and a food shortage taking hold, it’s clear that humanity is going to have to fight back to reclaim their home and plug the hole in the wall.


There are some key differences between this adaption of Attack on Titan and the original story. First off, there is no Survey Corps to begin with, so no one knew if the Titans still existed beyond the walls as no human had seen them for a 100 years. The story explains that nobody had been outside the outer walls for a century because of a big bomb, which meant only Titans could survive the outside world. We never learn more about this bomb but we do discover that this world was once much more technologically driven than the original Attack on Titan. It’s stated that technology only bred war, lack of resources, and other such things. While we never learn more than this, it’s clear that this world is (currently) vastly different to the one presented in the manga. It’ll be interesting to see if the second part of the movie expands on this concept further.

In this story the relationship between Eren and Mikasa has also been changed, including what happens to them earlier on in the story. In the original series they’re brother and sister (although not by blood as Mikasa is adopted), but for this tale it’s never mentioned that the two are family. What’s more, Eren doesn’t even know his family because they died while he was a young child. Instead Mikasa acts as a love interest for Eren and is often jokingly referred to as his girlfriend. During the first half of this live action adventure Eren and Mikasa are separated, with Mikasa stranded in the part of town now overrun by titans. When Eren returns to the outer walls two years later, now part of the Survey Corps force, he reunites with Mikasa, who has changed drastically after being trained by a mysterious fighter known as Shikishima (our Levi substitute).


While the core story of humanity versus the Titans is unchanged, it’s clear that the live action take is its own universe and should be treated as such. There isn’t a great deal of focus on the story once the Survey Corps are established and the troops head out to seal the hole in the wall. Instead the movie supplies endless amounts of gore to entertain the viewers. You definitely don’t want to be watching this while eating. Because of the lack of story later on, I’m not sure if the movie makes for a great rewatch, but it’s certainly fun to just sit back, turn your brain off, and enjoy the ride the first time around.

There is some good acting on show for the Attack on Titan core characters. Haruma Miura makes a fitting Eren, delivering his more threatening dialog with great emotion. Kiko Mizuhara, who plays Mikasa, and Hiroki Hasegawa, who plays Shikishima, are also highlights on an acting level and both do a tremendous job with their roles. So far I’ve neglected to mention Armin, who is a core member of the team in the original manga, but that’s because the live action movie sidelines him a great deal of the time. This makes it difficult to get a read on how good Kanata Hongo actually is at playing the role. It’s likely we’ll be seeing more of Armin in the second film, so hopefully that will give Kanata the chance to truly shine.

Overall the music isn’t anything to write home about but it does a decent job of compelling the movie along. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t really stand out on its own either.

For what it is, Attack on Titan has been approached in an interesting manner. The story might be different but the action scenes are incredibly fun to watch (if the titans don’t scare you to death, that is!) and it works as an interesting take on a well established story. I don’t believe that this is a good entry point for someone who has never watched and/or read Attack on Titan before, but if you already know the story then it’ll make sense. Based on the re-working of the original manga, I can’t recommend this very highly but as a whole it certainly makes a fun movie to watch with friends. I’m certainly looking forward to the second half of the adventure.

Score: 5/10

Quick Information

• Title: Attack on Titan: The Movie
• UK Publisher: Animatsu
• Genre: Horror, Drama, Action.
• Director: Shinji Higuchi
• Year: 2015
• DVD/Bluray Release Date: June 27th 2016
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Classification: 15