I have to admit, after thinking about it for a few days and listening to this podcast, I'm looking at the movie in a new light.
When I watched it the other night, I think my expectations were so low that I walked away from the movie having, for the most part, enjoyed it. Now that I've had a chance to think about it for a few days, and after listening to the complains you three had about the film, I don't think I can bring myself to watch it again.
To be honest, it was a lot like my experience with the Watchmen film. The first time I saw it, I enjoyed it. The next time...not so much. Looking back on that experience, I think it was not only a combination of seeing some of my favorite moments in the graphic novel acted out, which I very much enjoyed, but that I was expecting a horrible, horrible experience, which wasn't the case. The next time I saw it, I spent the entire time analyzing each scene and came to the conclusion that I wish I had come to during my first viewing experience: it just wasn't that good.
Same with the Berserk film. What I enjoyed was seeing Berserk animated...but what I didn't think about while watching the movie, was that I wasn't seeing Berserk animated; I was seeing a caricature of Berserk, an imitation. And that's really what this film is: an imitation of our beloved manga, an attempt at reaching the standard Miura set and not coming close.
As for the next two films...I have no desire to see them. If they end up making a Black Swordsman movie after this trilogy is wrapped up, I might take a gander, but until then, I'm going to pretend that this project doesn't exist anymore.
For those who purchased the Blu-ray or DVD, are you going to hold on to it? I almost don't want it in my apartment. I like the illustration by Miura on the slip cover, but I just can't justify holding onto the Blu-ray for that alone, and I'm not sure what I'd do with it if I kept the slip cover itself.
On the bright side, at least we got a decent Hirasawa song out of all this.
