Sep 8, 2017
Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers, adapted from a series of novels by Hiroshi Mori, is the director's seventh animated feature-film. It follows Yuuichi Kannami, an eternally-young fighter-ace, assigned to Area 262 following the death of three of their pilots. The plane Yuuichi is given seems puzzlingly unscathed, and the fate of its previous occupant serves to drive the plot forward. At the centre of this mystery is his similarly stunted Commanding Officer, Suito Kusanagi, with whom Yuuichi quickly develops a bond.
While this search for answers is fairly entertaining, It does not dominate the movie, which instead focuses on establishing the world and characters, and
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exploring the chemistry between them, much like Oshii's most seminal work, Ghost in the Shell. Unfortunately, The Sky Crawlers is not a movie that particularly deserves this same deliberate and pondering pace. While Production IG's 2D background work is predictably stunning, the same cannot be said for the characters that inhabit this world, as their design and voice acting is oddly flat, lifeless, and uninspired. One could argue that this complements the movie thematically, but it certainly makes for a difficult watch during the fairly uneventful first ninety minutes.
Similarly, the setting, a relatively empty airfield surrounded by open space, allows little room for cinematic exploration, and Oshii's typically-wide landscape shots feel more grating than artful. This incompatible dichotomy of styles continues in the eponymous skies, with Polygon Pictures' CGI planes clashing violently with the hand-drawn world they occupy; in stark contrast to the expertly blended animation of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, The Sky Crawlers can sometimes feel like the cruel result of two entirely different productions coming together, and the transition between them is exceptionally jarring. The 2D characters often seem clumsily superimposed onto a 3D scenario, or vice versa, and the landscapes conjured up by our two animation houses are alike in name only. While each half of the film is technically impressive, the awkward marriage of the two only serves to cheapen them both. A rather flaccid Kenji Kawai score accompanies.
Audiovisual criticism aside, The Sky Crawlers does tell an interesting story, and eventually, manages to inject some humanity and accessibility into its lifeless protagonists. Despite the insultingly contrived exposition of the final act, its message is subtle, relevant, and incisive, and does in-part redeem an otherwise unremarkable film.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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