The movie was great, and about what I expected. As long as you don't expect it to follow the plot of the anime, it's a good movie on it's own right. They took a lot of liberty with the story, but the visuals are very much true to the anime with a modern flavor. Obviously it's not as deep or complex as the anime was, but as a Hollywood introduction to the series, I think it's a fine effort.
Exactly this! I had the same attitude going in and I loved it. If you concentrate on comparing it to the original it will not seem as good but I dont think that is very fair, it's still good in its own right. I would give it a solid 8/10 even as a huge fan of the original.
I thought the tone/visuals were perfect and all the actors nailed their roles .. it just lacked some of the deep philosophical themes of the original, but it made up for it in fleshing out the main character a bit more (almost as if its setting up for a franchise, heres hoping).
Whether or not you will enjoy it depends on how much you can temper your expectations, yes .. the original is a masterpiece .. but not being as good as the original doesnt make it bad. It is still really good if you treat it as its own thing.
