Review of Escaflowne: The Movie (2000) by Gina W — 01 Feb 2010

Escaflowne is the re-telling of the television series, "The Vision of Escaflowne". A depressed high school student named Hitomi wishes to just fade away and is magically sucked into a world called Gaea where they called her their Wing Goddess. Multiple forces are struggling against each other there for control of powerful dragon armor that the Wing Goddess is supposed to control so they have to try and win her favor as she has the power to save them or destroy their world entirely.

Some of the rag-tag band she befriends includes a kitty-cat girl with a somewhat annoying voice and Van, the last of his kind that can wield a special power that runs in his genes.

What I liked most about this movie were the action sequences, fighting over Hitomi and getting to see the dragon armor being used. When a person enters the armor, they have to give blood for it to work so they are pierced all over their body and blood drains from them. For me, I thought that was a pretty powerful way to make the inhabitants sacrifice something before they go running off with a suit that can bring about so much destruction. Having a high price to pay means not just anyone would jump in it.

Hitomi is clearly depressed throughout and I'm not sure if she ever really overcame that. She said enough nice things to keep Van motivated and alive when he was hurt but I have this feeling that if she goes home to her own world, her outlook will not have changed.

There was pretty music, the plot was occasionally confusing. I never felt emotionally involved or connected to any characters. Only when they were fighting did there seem to be something worth cheering for. It was ok for one watching, but not close to the best I've seen.