Appleseed Alpha

The oddly named Appleseed Alpha is essentially a series of action sequences punctuated by bland dialogue and weak attempts at character development. First, the story and dialogue are particularly weak and unoriginal. As someone unfamiliar with the comic book series on which the film was based, I was hoping for a little more back story or at least a little more information about the characters and their motivations. Second, the characters are lifeless and unlikeable, and the relationship between the protagonist and her cyborg partner is nearly devoid of humanity--nothing like the cyborg-human relationship in Ghost in the Shell. Strangely, most of the human characters seemed more like cyborgs than the cyborgs did. The animation is the film's saving grace, however, and hardcore anime fans will appreciate the detailed and amazingly lifelike characters and environments. The voice acting is also decent, considering the laughably bad dialogue. Bottom line: I don't recommend it unless you're a serious anime fan who has run out of things to watch.

To be perfectly honest what this movie misses most is a game controller. The movie consists of good action scenes great boss battles and over the top weapons and abilities. Why then do I have to sit still and watch instead of actually engaging in the battles?

The plot of this movie is nothing to write home about. You have seen it in one form or another a million times before, often better executed. Would've done nicely for a game though.

The artwork however: sublime. I really doubted in the beginning of the movie whether it was animation or live action (other scenes are less convincing but still). The ruins of New York look like a delight to wander around in and to just explore.

I can honestly say I watched this movie for the art, not the story.

Appleseed is one of my favourite anime series of all time. I think the magic of the series is the relationship of Deunan and Briareos, which is the main "glue" which holds the series together.

This movie cements that with an early look at their pre-ESWAT days, (Especial Weapons & Tactics) for those not in the know.

Unlike the first movie Appleseed and its follow-up Ex Machina, there are no glittering towers of beautiful buildings or people/bioroids living in a harmonious Utopia in the city of Olympus. This is a bombed to Hell urban landscape of mankind's own making and Deunan and Briareos do their best to exist in it while keeping sane and still in love with each other.

The CGI is good, NOT great, but still very good at conveying this while the story, involving stopping a madman cyborg from kick starting another war is involving and action packed.

It's also nice to hear David Matranga and Luci Christian continuing to do the voice acting for these two, I don't think Appleseed would be the same with these two talented voice actors.

Our two heroes do their best and there are moments of real passion of dialogue in the movie, also some fun moments with witty banter while they take down battle droids out in the dust bowls of former cities reduced to dust.

In summation, if your looking for a great intro to the Appleseed story, this is a good place to start, you'll see great action, good anime and a hint at the end of a follow-up movie which will no doubt continue their relationship when they reach Paradise (Olympus).

The IMDb rating is pretty much on.

For a 3D cgi flick in the tradition of Final Fantasy, it is no slouch, it is fun, it holds attention.

The CGI improves from year to year. When the characters walk off scene for example you would swear these are real people. Other movements, not so much. In 40 years they will be able to recreate any great actor from the past, I think, perfectly.

Hopefully I will not be here to see that.

The problem? Why mess with Appleseed? The thing about the AS franchise was the anime. You tune in for the anime. You get lost in the anime.

I even printed outside an oversize pic of Deunan from the original and keep it on the wall. I don't do that a lot. The point is not that I am crazy. The point is that Appleseed is to anime what Godfather is to live action.

So, no disrespect, but what's the point...?

I've been a big fan of Appleseed ever since I first bought the original VHS back when I was 17. The franchise saw reprints of the Manga come and go until the reboot and the 2007 sequel, both of which I also really enjoyed. This particular movie, despite being from the same creative team, is sadly not in continuity with the others and is a "soft retelling" of how Deunan Knute and her rabbit- eared cyborg boyfriend Briareos fought their way through a post-WIII America before arriving in Olympus City.

It is by no means bad, but still a bit of a disappointment. I will chalk this up to the fact that Sony have gotten their dirty hands on the franchise since they have a long history of mis-managing pre- existing properties. This instalment honestly feels and looks more like one of the disposable CGI Resident Evil movies than Appleseed. There is a decent atmosphere in the empty cities and quiet, lifeless deserts but it doesn't have the gloss and tech that I am used to from this series. The tech on display here is old and war-scarred, adding a riff of grubbiness to it that I'm not used to. Plus, there's very little to identify with, Deunan seems to be the only pure human with no bio- mech augmentations. I know it's a clichéd criticism to make of such movies, but it did honestly make me feel like I was watching a video game cut-scene. A bit more of the human element would have balanced things out and eliminating that truly, truly, utterly awful soundtrack would have pushed my final score a little higher. The soundtrack was honestly so awful I was disappointed that there was no Japanese track on the Blu-ray. I would have happily read subtitles if it meant the removal of all those terrible hip-hop sounding songs.

I don't know what Sony were thinking. I liked the Japanese textures of Appleseed, and their attempts to Westernize it just don't sit well with me as a fan. It's worth watching but definitely the least appealing in the entire series so far.