Knights of the Zodiac (2023)
Knights of the Zodiac is a by the numbers fantasy film, that is kept alive by our interest in what happens to the two young leads, played by Mackenyu and Madison Iseman.
Knights of the Zodiac is the first feature film adaptation of the popular eighties Japanese manga Saint Seiya, illustrated by Masami Kurumada, which in turn led to a long running and internationally successful anime series.
Whether this live-action feature - which features a lot of virtual production as well as being very CGI-driven - will continue that success is an open question.
The movie lacks a creative vision to make it stand out in the crowd of international blockbusters and most of the time it just looks pretty anonymous.
Knights of the Zodiac is sold as the origin story of Seiya (Mackenyu), a headstrong street teen, who fights for cash while searching for his missing sister.
During a particularly extreme fight with Cassios (Nick Stahl) he taps into his Cosmo, a mystical power he didn’t even know existed.
Next thing you know Seiya is taken in by the mysterious Alman Kido (Sean Bean) and his trusty servant Mylock (Mark Dacascos), as protector for his daughter, Sienna (the excellent Madison Iseman), who is the reincarnation of the ancient Goddess Athena.
For this reason, Sienna is being hunted by the apparently evil Guraad (Famke Janssen) and her henchman Nero (Diego Tinoco), who enlist the help of Cassios, who for his troubles is turned into a mechanically updated version of himself.
To become the true Pegasus Knight (of the Zodiac) Seiya first has to train on a deserted island with the Silver Knight Marin (Caitlin Hutson), who keeps her mask on at all times and therefore becomes a fascinating figure in a story that is otherwise full of things you’ve seen before.
The scenes on the island are the best in the movie, as they show some fine martial arts work.
I also liked some of the scenes between Seiya and Sienna, especially those taking place near the water. Ten years ago Mackenyu and Iseman could have starred very effectively in one of those romantic Nicholas Sparks weepies. Who knows, maybe they still can.
On the whole, I thought the Polish director Tomasz Baginski worked quite well with his actors. Even though the roles played by Bean, Janssen, Dacascos, etc are all pretty limited, at least they never phone it in.
With a special recommendation for Stahl, who quite literally commits to the bit of the fighting man-machine and really goes for it. It’s the kind of role that never gets any credit - also because the character is so despicable - but he really gives the part his all.
The ending of Knights of the Zodiac makes it pretty clear that the producers would like to turn this movie into a franchise. Personally speaking I would be more interested to see Baginski direct a more human drama. I think he has the talent for it.