First, let me state my prejudice: I think the series is the greatest animated series of all time and its universe is one of the great fantasy creations of the twentieth century. What the artists here do with it is spectacular, and one scene in the movie--the resurrection of Escaflowne and the battle of the guymalefs--captures the magic of the series. Otherwise, it is all flash and noise and action. And blood. And loud, not very good music. The story is stiffly told, and is stripped down so far that most of it makes little sense except by reference to the series. The characters are lost, half of them are extraneous, only the maniacal Dilandau comes across--he is done much as in the series--and even here the explanation for him is missing. It looks as if the producers were trying to turn this into another _Akira_, but they chose the wrong property. In short: not enough girl, not enough Gaea, not enough.
Review of Escaflowne: The Movie
