[12 Days of Christmas] Day 2 – The Sky Crawlers
I rented The Sky Crawlers on a whim, but with high expectations due to the hype about it. I wasn’t let down in any way, and now it’s so high on my Christmas list that I’ll likely cry if I don’t get it. (Of course, then I’d just turn around and buy it with whatever giftcards I get, but that’s not the point.)
Mamoru Oshii’s latest work is a dark yet realistic look into the world of a young pilot, Yuuichi Kannami, who shows up at a new base where nothing is as it seems.
… A synopsis like that pretty much shows that the movie had tons of potential to be really, really lame. It could’ve been like Kurogane no Linebarrels mixed with Jinki Extend and… oh, who knows what. And it’s only through a bit of magic that Oshii and the movie’s writer, Chihiro Ito, make it work. Of course, some credit has to go to the original novel’s writer, Hiroshi Mori; if it was successfull enough to spawn four sequel novels, then that says something about its adaptation potential, right?
The pacing, atmosphere and attention to visual detail are the movie’s strongest points,and what push the film above and beyond almost everything else that’s been brought to North America this year. That’s not to say the plot is mediocre, though; it’s a blend of geopolitical and psychological drama that layers mysteries to create an incredible amount of suspense. It’s not the most character-driven plot ever, but it becomes more than the sum of its parts through some epic plot twists, some of which are never explained fully.
It’s because they’re never explained fully that the character development suffers a bit, and the main character is less interesting than his commander, Suito Kusanagi (who is ridiculously awesome and complex and tsundere… or yandere… or both, really.) Still, the lack of explanation makes the plot more believable, in a roundabout way; and who wants to listen to the 10+ minutes of dialogue it would’ve taken to explain it all, anyway?
The film’s only real flaw is the lack of character design eye candy, though that’s open to debate. The absolutely ridiculous aerial dogfights more than make up for that, though; fans of WWII-style planes will probably pee themselves during the opening scene. Trust me, it’s that awesome. I’m just left wondering what poor nerds were stuck behind computers for hours on end rendering all that stuff.
Some would argue that the ending is flawed, too, but its ambiguity doesn’t seem all that out-of-place. Its solemn tone sets the viewers’ mood in stone as the credits roll, and it leaves little to really be desired. Though The Sky Crawlers isn’t for the faint of heart, it’s definitely a movie for those wanting something deeper and more intense than their average action anime. It’s easily one of the best things to be released on this side of the Pacific this year, and absolutely not to be missed by airplane otaku, period.
~CJ
