Of course you've read how this movie completely distorts, if not entirely rapes, the beauty and subtle complexity of the series. I too feel betrayed to some degree. I'm writing this review to suggest a reason why this was done. If you are new to the story you'll find it CONFUSING BEYOND COMPREHENSION. But if you liked the series, you probably aren't going to enjoy this beyond the animation.
The producers' changes, I believe are an effort to "condense" the symbolism and themes of the series for a new audience. Taking the central themes and characters and turning them into abstractions.
Watching the movie you quickly understand that what is taking place is in a parallel universe. The plot goes onto define sub coral as a the 'image', and the Summer of Love is replaced by the Agony of Doha. There are more reconfigurations/disfigurations of the series characters and events, but I think its interesting to focus on these two, because we can come to some conclusions of what these changes mean overall.
In redefining the Summer of Love as the Agony of Doha, I believe the producers are obviously presenting a world that is even more brutal and relentless than the series. Innocence lost seems to be the condensation of the series thematic core. This becomes clearer as Eureka's character comes into view, the Gekkostate's backstory is revealed, and Eureka and Renton's relationship culminates to fatalistic dry-humping instead of self-sacrificing romance.
If anything, in redefining the Sub-coral as the image, fans can learn more of what these creatures were all about...assuming you didn't draw enough conclusion from the series. My only question now is: why recapitulate this award winning series, trying to condense it into approximately two hours by reshuffling; when it would have been more interesting to see a sequel or a prequel?
Again..."If it aint broke, don't try to fix it."
