The Sky Crawlers' Review

Ghost in the Shell’s famed director Mamoru Oshii. The Sky Crawlers is based on a quintet of novels of alternate history novels byHiroshi Mori. The movie revolves around Kannami Yuichi who comes to a small airbase as the newest corporate pilot in an ongoing series of air battles between two antagonistic companies. Although he has never been to this base he keeps getting déjà vu which only heightens his sense of muddled memories. What secrets does his enigmatic commander, Kusanagi Suito, have about him and the company he fights for?

The Sky Crawlers is very clearly a Mamoru Oshii movie. His style is unmistakably in every scene for better or for worse. With Mamoru Oshii has the helm we always get one fight scene at the beginning, one in the middle, and one and the end. The rest of the movie is character studies and long mood establishing shots. This means that we have a dog and more specifically a basset hound as a running mascot. It means that we have people discussing philosophy and quoting philosophers preferably while eating. And of course that means that we get a fish eye lens shot once during the movie. Also Kusanagi Suito’s appearance (especially her doll like eyes) is distinctly reminiscent of Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell.

Since this is clearly a Mamoru Oshii it means that we get all of his idiosyncrasies to the maximum which will clearly determine if you are going to enjoy this movie or not. If your favorite part of Ghost in the Shell was Major Kusanagi and Batou discussing the nature of existence or thoroughly enjoyed the Kerberos Saga movies then you are going to find Sky Crawlers a rich and rewarding experience. If you watched Ghost in the Shell for the action and felt that the Kerberos Saga were maddeningly slow paced then you are constantly going to be looking at your watch throughout the movie. Mamoru Oshii never rushes at any point during this movie. While this is done deliberately and to a poignant effect it will turn away any casual anime fans.

This leads to one of my major criticisms with the movie is that the characters are generally unengaging. This is deliberate on the part of the director but it made it hard for me to get into the movie. This is a movie about people who are almost like ghosts eternally going through the motions of their lives without any solid past, presents, or futures. If they had been engaging character it would have been contradictory to the premise of the film but it gives the film a critical weakness. If you are not intrigued by the concept of trying to fin meaning in this detached existence then the movie will surely bore you. There is a subtle and distinct growth to our two main characters is it is done at a slow and deliberate pace.

For those who wish to drink in the atmosphere of The Sky Crawlers there is quite a full-bodied experience to experience. The animation is obviously theatrical in budget and execution. Many of the backgrounds looked startlingly realistic and the character animation is luscious and almost always on model. The CG battle sequences are gorgeous, fluid, and engaging. Even people I talked to afterwards who hated the movie had to admit that they enjoyed any scene where there was flying.

On October 16, 2008 Namco Bandai released a Wii game based on the franchise called The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces truly making it a multimedia property.
The Sky Crawlers shows Mamoru Oshii’s ability to faithfully adapt a book while making the movie clearly and artistically making it his own.
Destroy All Podcasts DX - Jeremy and Andrew do a podcast that cover a broad range of movies but have made it their mission to review any and all Mamoru Oshii movies.
A trailer for the Wii game
Another good review on Japanator
A trailer for the movie
Kusanagi Suito Pinky Street figure
A Kannami Yuhichi Pinky Street figure

[images via taeko@new york-tokyo and reverse thieves]