Saint Seiya marked a generation of fans who remain faithful to the lines of Masami Kuramada in a story of brotherhood full of emotion, drama and violence. The formula is simple: watch Seiya and her friends fight until they manage to burn their cosmos and awaken their seventh sense to achieve their goals. The fans want to feel this emotion in the movie theater with the premiere of The Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya – The Beginning. Is the above achieved? I’m afraid that this time, not even the Sagittarius armor will save us from disaster.
The Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya – The Beginning is an adaptation that decides to take a western approach that takes elements from the Netflix animated series. This decision can cause a lot of confusion when finding changes in the names of some characters and other situations that seem out of place. This means that it is not based on the galactic tournament or the saga of the 12 houses, rather, we start from a new origin of Seiya (Mackenyu) and how he is involved with the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, known as Sienna (Madison Iseman ).
It is true that at the beginning the fight between golden knights and the mythology that we like so much is put on the screen, but this vanishes when we fully enter the history of Seiya. From this moment on, the movie focuses 100% on Seiya and he decides to tell us how he struggles every day to find his sister. To earn a living, he has become an underground fighter who, in the middle of a fight, reveals part of the power of his cosmos. This has caught the attention of two sides that will seek Seiya to fulfill his interests with the help of the power that sleeps within him. The first step will be to control his cosmos to become the knight of Pegasus and thus protect Athena.
My first impression is that everything happened very fast and I had the feeling that I was watching something completely different from anime. Let’s start with the encounters with the black knights, if we can call them knights. This species of cyborgs are recurring but usually participate in persecutions and confrontations with firearms. Their armor makes them immune to some attacks but they end up as cannon fodder, they are too generic and don’t fit the franchise.
On the other hand, most of the fights are choreographed and somewhat reminiscent of martial arts movies made in Hollywood. This means we’ll see lots of camera flipping, dramatic zooming, slow motion, and the basic resource pack in one action movie. This may be related to the appearance of Mark Dacascos, a movie star who is proficient in various combat disciplines. These kinds of scenes get the job done but feel like a wasted opportunity by not exploiting the power-packed battles like they do at the beginning.
On a couple of occasions things change and we will see Seiya perform some techniques where he uses his cosmos. This left us wanting to see more encounters of this type but the film leaves little time for this since he prefers to lose himself by explaining to us over and over again the importance of Athena and the objective of her enemies. By having so many situations that try to make clear to us the origin of the protagonists, on many occasions the rhythm stops suddenly to investigate the visions of Athena or the traumas of Seiya’s childhood. The most salvageable is the part of the Seiya preparation, where they present some references to the anime. Even the mystical atmosphere that takes up some iconic details such as the Greek columns are well received. It is true that the formula where the hero unleashes his true potential is repeated, but even with this, it is one of the best scenes in this adaptation. It’s all about the details, for example: the melodies that accompany key moments are easy to recognize and give us a glimmer of hope, before returning to the heartless action movie we saw from before.
The same happens with one of the most important battles, where after a long wait we can finally see the armor in all its splendor. Both scenes work well despite being flawed, I wish the movie had more of this. The use of special techniques, the demolished environment and the clash of power make the fight enjoyable. Unfortunately, these situations happen very little and it’s a shame, because if this requirement was met, the film would have been more bearable.
Another point worth mentioning is the adaptation of the characters and their appearance. I must admit that the Japanese actor, Mackenyu was a good choice for the role of Seiya. In fact, special care is noted in the character, and it is the one that has the most similarities in his appearance. If I were to imagine the Pegasus knight in real life, I’m sure it would be very similar to him. At least until he wears the Pegasus armor. The armors are a key piece in the development of Saint Seiya and Kurumada’s designs are sublime. On this occasion it was decided to change the structure of these for armor similar to the one used by the samurai. We had already seen this type of helmet with a retractable system in the animated film The Knights of the Zodiac: The Legend of the Sanctuary but this time they look a little weird. If you pay attention you will notice that Fénix’s (Diego Tinoco) armor looks better but the proportions of his helmet give the impression that it is too big for the actor. This is a matter of perspective but I would have liked to see something more traditional.
I have mixed feelings about the cast. On the one hand, I think the quality of the actors is unquestionable. For example, Sean Bean who plays Alman Kiddo, has participated in game of thrones and The Lord of the Rings. The problem is the characters that don’t quite convince, especially Cassios who went from being an intimidating character to a braggart who is willing to do anything to win. You can’t get attached to any character and at the same time, they make hasty decisions with serious consequences. His dialogues usually provoke involuntary laughter, it even seems that the script was done in a hurry.
The Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya – The Beginning suffers from the curse of adaptations. The changes are likely intended to appeal to new audiences and make it easier for Western fans to digest. It seems like a bad decision to me because, if you are a fan at heart, you will notice the flaws from the first moment and not even your passion for Athena’s knights will be enough to last until the end. If you want to convince yourself, you can see it from April 27 in your favorite cinema. By the way, I recommend you watch it in Spanish since Marcos Patiño, the voice of Fénix, and María Fernanda Morales, the voice of Athena, did a good job of resuming their characters. Do not forget to leave your impressions once you leave the function, we want to read you.
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