Shingeki no kyojin: Endo obu za wârudo

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.

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.

It's very unusual for one cinematic tale to be broken up into two separate movies (a "Part 1" and a "Part 2"), that are released in consecutive months. The Japanese film "Attack on Titan" has done just that. Japanese audiences got to see Part 1 on August 1, 2015 and Part 2 on September 19, 2015. American theaters showed the movies on September 30th and October 20th, respectively. With the U.S. release dates of these two halves just three weeks apart, Part 1 is probably still fresh in the minds of those who saw it, but some people may have missed the first one and want to see the second one. So, before I review "Attack on Titan: Part 2" (NR, 1:28) – also known as "Attack on Titan: End of the World" – let's look back at how we got to this point in this Japanese apocalyptic action/adventure/horror/fantasy… The basic story in "Attack on Titan" first emerged as other forms of entertainment in Japan and grew rapidly in popularity in a relatively short period of time. The Japanese manga (graphic novel) series, "Attack on Titan" debuted in 2009 and became an anime TV series in 2013. In this story, all civilization exists behind three sets of concentric cement walls designed to keep out Godzilla-sized man-eating human-like creatures called titans. After a century of peace (and the younger generation wondering if the titans are a myth), the calm is shattered when a new kind of titan that's taller than the wall kicks a hole in it. The titans lumber inside and promptly begin eating people. The survivors retreat behind the second set of walls and form a military regiment to plug the hole in the outer wall. For this concluding segment, Eren Jaeger (Haruma Miura), his best friend, Armin (Kanata Hongo), Eren's girlfriend-turned-fierce-titan-fighter, Mikasa (Kiko Mizuhara), and a few others who survived Part 1 are still intent on completing their mission in spite of the setbacks they encountered right before the end of that film.

Part 2 picks up the story right where Part 1 left off, but sets the stage first. There's a short flashback scene from Eren's childhood which explains the special ability that he displayed at the end of Part 1 (which, at the time, seemed to come out of nowhere). Next, there's a short compilation of scenes from Part 1, which prepares audiences pretty well for viewing Part 2. Then the story moves forward, starting with Eren chained up and threatened with execution for what he revealed about himself in the previous battle. Eren lives, learns more of the history of his civilization and the titans who decimated it, finds out what is really going on in the current war and has to decide what role he will play in its final outcome.

For those who saw the first half of the movie, the best way for me to tell you what the conclusion is about (without, of course, resorting to spoilers) is to give you a list of questions that Part 2 answers: How can Eren's special ability make a difference in the war against the titans? Are there others who have that same ability? Why did the titans suddenly reappear at that particular moment in time? Where did that titan's titan who broke through the wall come from and why does he look and act differently than the others? Why are the titans vulnerable to injury at the nape of the neck? What are the competing agendas at work here? What happened to the original scouting regiment from Part 1? Can the outer wall be effectively patched? And, last but certainly not least, what lies beyond that outer wall? Part 2 answers all these questions and, in the process, gives us a movie that's better than Part 1.

"Attack on Titan, Part 2" / "Attack on Titan: End of the World", even though it's the second half of a single movie, is very different in tone and substance. Part 2 improves upon many of the problems that I had with Part 1 (which led me to give that movie a "C-"). The story is more interesting in Part 2 – especially with several plots twists and surprising reveals. The script leaves far fewer unanswered questions and has fewer plot holes (fewer, but not none). The creepy/silly-looking titans get less screen time in Part 2 and hardly any close-ups, which helps the audience take the story's conflict more seriously and earns the film higher marks overall for its special effects. The characters are less annoying (especially the scouting regiment's comically gung-ho female squad leader who is still kind of ridiculous, but a little more amusing than in Part 1), but much of the performances is still overly melodramatic.

This two-part film would have been more effective as a single film. Joining them wouldn't have necessarily resulted in a bloated three-hour movie. Eliminating the credits at the end of Part 1 and that review compilation at the beginning of Part 2 would save time. That, and more judicious editing of the story, could have produced a half-way decent two-hour-long "Attack on Titan" movie. Releasing the story as separate films was probably about selling two sets of tickets, but that only works if Part 1 is good enough to make people want to talk it up and to see Part 2. I can't help thinking that making this into one movie would've turned out better both creatively and commercially. As it stands, however, Parts 1 and 2 were released as separate movies, leading to separate reviews and separate grades from us. "Attack on Titan: Part 2" is better than Part 1, but still not what I'd call high quality. "B-"

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!