Star Blazers fans will love, SF fans may like, other can skip
Someone finally got around to making a live action version of Space Battleship Yamoto. Like most Americans, I first experienced the Yamato series via the American adaptation Star Blazers and the Comico mini-series. It was the first kids cartoon I can remember on American TV that didn't seem like it was (completely) talking down to kids.
This live action version has most of what fans of the series want - the essential plot and characters are retained. Most of the updates are good, though the re-imagining of the Gamilas (Gamilons) as a unified entity, while cool in concept, has the drawback of eliminating Leader Deslok - one of the coolest science fiction villains of all time.
In some ways this is a movie for the fans. It's probably not going to result in making many new converts to the series; the story alone is unlikely to hook the uninitiated, and the mostly CGI effects, while adequate, contain nothing particularly novel.
Still, the image of the Yamato charging ahead with all guns blazing is memorable, and the image that best captures the feel of space opera. Now if they'd only replace the cheesy Steven Tyler ballad with a rock version of the American Star Blazers theme!