KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC (2023)

KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC (2023)

Tagline: Pegasus will rise...

(Adventure, Drama, Cosmos Stuff) [PG-13].

In this one Seiya is surviving by fighting underground when one of his fights leads to him tapping into a power he has as a Knight of the Zodiac. He doesn’t really know what it all means and really doesn’t want any part of it. It doesn’t take long before armored soldiers come to find him when he is rescued by a man named Alman. Seiya meets Sienna who is the reincarnated goddess Athena. Can Seiya embrace his role as a Knight of the Zodiac and take his role as a protector of Sienna. 

I should start this review by saying that I don’t really watch anime all that much. The last live-action adaptation of anything anime that I watched was COWBOY BEBOP and I thought that was pretty good, but the show got canceled. I can only guess it got canceled because people that like anime are pretty passionate about staying close to the source material, just ask M. Night Shyamalan. This isn’t just true with anime though, it’s true with books and comics of any type. It’s also going to make you miserable. Never expect the movie to be the book or the book to be the movie. The two things might have something in common, but it is very very rare that they ever match. KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC is actually based on an animated show that ran from 1986 to 1989 and played out over 114 episodes. So it’s pretty clear that they are hoping this movie is successful so they can make more movies.

I like stuff that involves Greek mythology but I never get upset if they don’t even try to portray gods the way they were written. This is one of those movies that doesn’t give a crap about all that. I thought the pacing was pretty good and the movie overall was fine. I didn’t walk out of this thinking “Wow that was amazing” though. I think part of the problem is that the acting is all pretty generic feeling. This production comes across more like something you would see on regular TV these days. I didn’t feel drawn to any of the characters, but I didn’t really dislike any of them either.

Where this thing shines is in the casting. As weird as some of the roles Famke Janssen (X-MEN) has been in are, I still like her as an actress, and she is still one of those top talents you go to if you need someone to play an attractive psycho. In this, she is solid as Vander, but her character’s progression as the film moves along is weird. Apparently in the anime version that came out in 2019, “Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya”, Vander was a male. Normally I don’t care about gender swaps, but this hurt the movie and they chose to force a villain change that doesn’t make any sense at the end of the film. I won’t give away why but it took away from the hour and 35 minutes set up. We also get Mark Dacascos (BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN) who plays Mylock and is pretty outstanding. I thought Mylock was one of the coolest characters in the movie. Sean Bean (NATIONAL TREASURE) is good in this as Alman Kido, but he’s had better roles. Madison Iseman (JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE) is good as Sienna, but there are a lot of scenes in here where I think as a director, I would have asked for more. She is capable of giving better performances, and has been better in other flicks I’ve seen her in. Mackenyu (PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING) is solid, but there just wasn’t any depth for his character in this script. 

When it comes to the pacing this thing moves right along. It doesn’t feel like a nearly 2-hour movie, but the CGI is pretty rough. I think back in the 90’s this would have blown minds, but 23 years after the 90’s ended it comes across as cheap fluff with zero depth. 

I enjoyed this movie, but I am not sure how this thing is going to stand out. I just watched it 2 days ago and it’s already out of my head. By way of comparison, the other two films I watched at the theaters this past weekend did. 

KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC gets a 4 out of 7. The cast saves a fairly lackluster story. It debuted on my TOP MOVIES OF 2023 list at number 21 out of 37 if that tells you anything. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF STAGE 6 FILMS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.