And, I was *much* better able to appreciate movie Allen.
With so little screen time and the emotional range of bad ass to ass kicker, Allen doesn’t give a fangirl a whole lot to go on. He’s still an excellent swordsman (still better than Van is too). He’s still really frickin’ gorgeous (not content to simply look like Sephiroth, he’s now actively raiding the Final Fantasy villain’s closet to purr inducing results). Discovering other traits though requires dissecting every little scene he’s in and pouring over the minutiae.
But it is Allen, so you know I did it.
His first (and kinda only) big scene of course features an ever-popular sparring match between him and Van. Well, Allen appears to be sparring. He keeps Van in check and disarms him rather than inflicting injury. Methinks the feral Van would have gladly sliced off Allen’s head had the opportunity arisen. Of course, this conflict started with Hitomi, as in Van thinking it would be cool to kill her and Allen thinking it would be decidedly uncool. Allen’s protest for Hitomi’s life echoes the gallant swordsman of the series. He claims “I don’t want to see a woman’s blood spilt.” After the fight’s over and the debate ensues as to Hitomi’s wing goddess status, Mr. Smooth is in full effect. He never questions if Hitomi is legit or not and speaks respectfully, and with a bit of his old self’s charm, to her. (“You must be exhausted after your journey from the heavens.”)
This scene also establishes his authority over his crew and their loyalty to him (Gaddes is pretty handy with a knife, eh?), thus creating another link with series Allen. With a bit of examination of the Abaharaki, you can determine how crafty Allen must be. They aren’t that great in number and they’re a ragtag group of quasi-soldiers with very few edges to be rough around. Their enemy is the Black Dragon Clan, a massive, well-coordinated army that steamrolls over entire cities without breaking a sweat. And yet, the Abaharaki are still fighting the good fight. Allen must be one damn good strategist with keen survival skills and instincts to be able to keep himself and his motley followers alive.
His opponents get dead in a hurry though. The Dragon Clan’s assault on the Abaharaki’s yak Winnebago contains my favorite scene of Allen and shows just what a cold bastard (in a good way) he can be. His men being no great match for the mounted Dragonslayers, Allen joins the fray… By stepping off the top of the battlewagon with more nonchalance than I would use to step off a curb. He just walks off the damn thing. It’s not a small fall either. It’s waaaaay up there and the Abaharaki that observe him even seem to think he’s nuts. But Allen has no facial expression, gives no macho war talk. He’s all business -- serious, deadly business. Poor Miguel was little more than a deer caught in the headlights.
Outside of his role as commander and butt-kicker, he remains a mystery. He obviously works well with Millerna and Gaddes, but the extent, if any, of his relationship with them is unknown. He and Van don’t get along, but then Van seems to have a problem with anybody with a pulse. Dryden is a business associate and a trusted one at that, but again, who knows what else is between them?
The great depth of his series character was what led me to love the guy and it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t make the transfer, but movie Allen isn’t all bad. Bare minimum, he’s a much more amusing badass than the one-liner cracking idiots Hollywood chucks at us. It’s a simple formula really. Cool as hell + hot as hell = one tasty piece of bishie meat.
