User reviews

Back story: Vexille 2007, Nihon Sakoku (Vexille 2007, Japan National Isolation) is set in the middle of this century, at about the edge of the foreseeable future. There has been rapid development in the areas of human-form robots, able to assist humanity with running it's civilization. Ten years ago, technology reached a point where completely human-made robots reached the peak of their potential. The trend shifted towards the augmentation of the human body, and the merging of man and machine. However, the basis and ethical implications of such technology were condemned by international treaties and organizations, and all development was banned. Japan (the world leader in robotics) was completely opposed to the condemnation, and the potential ban it found imposed on itself. Japan withdrew from the international community and went into national isolation.

Ten years later, there have been no visitors allowed in or out of Japan. There has been no cultural contact, and no shared media from Japan since the isolation. However, despite the self-imposed isolation, Japan remains the world leader in the field of robotics. The robots manufactured by the conglomerate DAIWA can be seen all over L.A., able to assist mankind with maintaining it's civilization. Before the isolation, the robotics industry was so vital to Japan that DAIWA had grown in to a colossal mega-conglomerate, with strong ties to every part of the government.

After two incidents of terrorism by DAIWA, outside of Japanese territory, America discovers that Japan may well have cyborg technology. Fearing the worst, America sends its most highly specialized team (Sword) to secretly infiltrate Japan, and gather intelligence.

The CG: There's no doubt that the CG is an important part of the appeal of this film, and for the most part, I think it comes off very well. Fans of the last major CG film released outside Japan will feel very at home with the visual style's blend of very photo realistic elements, such as mechs, landscapes, and high-paced action scenes, with low-polly toon-shaded actors. Although landscapes, mechs and characters are all very pleasing to the eye, the one complaint I have is that the characters sometimes suffer from very stiff movement, where motion capture seems to not have been used. Sometimes this stiff movement will happen between cuts in the middle of a scene, which tended to remind me that I was watching a CG movie.

The Music: The film also follows a similar flare to Appleseed, in its choice of dance and electronic artists such as Basement Jaxx, Boom Boom Satellites, Carl Craig, etc, and other more aesthetic tracks by Paul Okenfold. The blend of music does a good job of making the movie come alive, without sounding forced.

The story: The story was the most important thing for me, and probably the hardest to criticize. I enjoyed the story very much -- the progression is smooth, and easy to follow. The characters are presented well, and developed in enough detail to satisfy the viewer. The story progression starts very quickly, and immediately moves into meat of the story, which is infiltrating Japan. The story is spread out with a lot of action scenes, no doubt, because this is a CG movie. Most of which do a job in telling the story, but truth be told, are mostly for eye-candy value.

The main criticism I have of the story comes down to the complexity and presentation. I think as a CG film, Vexille didn't have enough time to devote to its story.

With a story so central to people and events of the past, I feel Vexille falls short in its delivery of everything it set up -- including the back story. Because of time constraints -- probably both in production and running time -- most of the story's revelations and plot points happen quite close together, which means the viewer's attention is often pulled away from one revelation to a new facet of the story, which does tend to dull the experience in the more dramatic scenes, and leaves little time to savour the experience.

In all honesty, I think a more expanded Vexille story could have easily filled another film, with a little bit still taken out. Of course, this is a natural part of cinema and story-telling, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing.

Final Verdict: I think Vexille is quite a solid CG film that stands apart from Applesed, with its own qualities, and enough differences to enjoy it for what it is. Although I was slightly disappointed by story in what I, personally, wanted to see, I think that just shows it to be a fairly well-balanced film, that I would recommend to anyone with a taste for action, CG or Japanese entertainment.

Excellent animation and an interesting story combine in this action sci-fi success. The voice work is sometimes clunky, and the characters are all dull as dishwater. In fact, I can't really tell you about the characters, they are all fairly similar. This results in visually stunning action sequences. But it's hard to feel involved and connect with the characters emotionally. Chases, robot fights, fast and well edited cuts, this is how action scenes should be seen. As a combination of both robot/zombie film, it would have been better for some not so obvious mad scientists. Enjoy the action, and try and make it through the dialogue.

Okay, so if you've read all of the other reviews then you know that the animation of this film is AWESOME! It's an excellent step forward for hybrid animation. Also, though not all of the reviewers agree, my opinion of the action in this film was that it was sweet and sick (in the most radical fashion.) For the animation and action alone, this film is totally worth the price of a rental. Which brings us to the plot of the film; while some reviewers thought the plot was empty or lacked merit, I am of the opinion that those reviewers probably didn't pay attention to all of the dialog. The plot was well developed, more believable than several of the big-budget live-action Hollywood films (such as The Happening, which totally sucked,) and played along the social issue of fear of technological invasiveness quite nicely, though it was a rather formulaic script. The dialog was a little weak, and there wasn't much for serious character development, but the nonverbal scripting played quite well. After all, this was an animated action flick, and quite frankly it was one of the better offerings from the anime genre in recent years. To recap, this is worth the cost of the rental if only for the visual imagery. However, if you have a well developed sensibility for the suspension of disbelief, then you will also likely enjoy the story as a whole. I know that I certainly did.

Reading some of the rave reviews on here I watched this movie with anticipation. The starting sequence was good with its action but unfortunately that is the best part of the movie. What i liked about the movie was its plot and storyline. Its like Bladerunner meeting resident evil (except with androids instead of zombies). It was interesting even though the ending - the action that triggered it - was weak and derivative. But on the whole the concept was good. What I disliked was the execution. The animation isn't very good. Yes it looks beautiful except for the characters. The characters basically look like those in-game cut scenes you find in video games. The characters especially their expressions are not well done at all. The hair are blocky solid strands. The characters' facial expression are stony even when it came to cries of anguish...stony expression with mouth open. It may be a small thing to some but for me it takes away from the movie. Entire time I felt like I was watching a video game.

It's 2067 and Japan has become a nation completely cut off from the rest of the world because it refuses to adhere to a U.N. mandate banning the development and manufacturing of human-like androids. The nation has also set up a sophisticated magnetic force field that effectively bars all outsiders from entering its borders. S.W.O.R.D. is a secret U.S. special forces team sent in to find out what diabolical activities are occurring on the inside. The main character, Vexille, is a feisty female member of this special ops force.

"Vexille" is a stylish and energetic dystopian fantasy, marked by imaginative storytelling, exciting action sequences, and animation that is a canny mixture of art deco, Soviet-era agitprop - with its heavy emphasis on facial shadowing - and technology-based futurism. Nicely done.

This year had perhaps seen a bumper crop of anime movies making it to the theatres, with the likes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Paprika, Brave Story, Doraemon, and now, a science fiction mecha genre anime by the producer of Appleseed, Fumihiko Sori.

Set in the middle of the 21st century, the world has become like that in Isaac Asimov novels, with robots having the intelligence finally to assist mankind in various tasks, which doesn't discount the fact that they'll be used in warfare too, with creations resembling those seen in Clone Wars. Coming from the largest factory in the world, Japan, for their technological genius, the world soon frowns upon their quest to fuse robots and humans (much like the brouhaha on potential abuse of stem cell technology), and Japan decides to shut itself off from the rest of the world.

Naturally, US foreign policy dictates that they are curious as to what's going on behind the iron curtain, so they send their crack paramilitary unit called SWORD to infiltrate Japan. They are afraid of the potential threat the robots give to humankind, and more so are suspicious of the largest conglomerate and robot producer Daiwa Heavy Industries, who are dabbling into questionable robotic research. Led by Leon (voiced by Shosuke Tanihara), it goes without saying that titular character Vexille (Meisa Kuroki) will get to save the day (hey, it's her name on the billboard). Interestingly enough though, this movie has its weight put on the strength of its female characters, Vexille, and rebel fighter Maria (Yasuko Matsuyuki)

There are many familiar elements in Vexille both character and plot wise, but that doesn't detract from the fact that there still are a number of plus points leading to the enjoyment of this movie. The designs of the mecha used by SWORD units, which is like an exoskeleton suit designed for middleweight, individual battles, are crafted to look like they just walked out of any generic Hollywood science fiction movie, as do the enemy's guard droids which look like they were heavily influenced by Robocop's ED209.

And with the many ships and transporters, can someone say Star Wars too? But the one that takes the cake, is the post-apocalyptic look at Japan, making it seem like the planet of Arakis from Frank Herbert's Dune, complete with their version of the Fremen with their tinkering prowess, and those monstrous, lethal sandworms too, which take on a mechanical facade over here, known as Jags. Even the inevitable finale seemed to have taken a leaf from Herbert's literary masterpiece.

As with any mecha-related stories, there's always a tussle between what it means to be a human and android (erm, Blade Runner?), and the hopes and dreams to preserve their way of life against a megalomaniac industrialist, who shares six degrees of separation with everyone involved. But we're not really here for rehashed cyberpunk stories involving the first 2 installments of the Animatrix, are we?

We're here for the action pieces, and boy, they don't disappoint. From the get go we're treated to a full scale assault and brought to see what SWORD can do, and it played out to John Woo-ish distinction with plenty of violence set to slow motion, with numerous guns blazing that would even make the master proud. Credit goes to designing the well crafted action sequences so they are vastly different from one another, and the best has got to be the massive chase/race sequence in the latter half of the movie. And a bonus here is the music, contributed no doubt by the genius of Paul Oakenfold. This one delivered perfectly, adding a huge dash of zing to complement the action, though I thought I heard a few bars off his Ready Steady Go!

The animation is in no doubt stunning with its photo-realism, and for a 2D movie, I thought it even beat Beowulf in the graphics, and intensity of the storyline. Vexille comes across as a recommended movie to catch before the dawn of the new year. Go see!

Went into Vexille on the heels of the disappointing Appleseed Ex Machina and was BLOWN AWAY. Everything about this is top notch; the storyline, while involved, is still easy to follow and very engaging. You care about characters when they die, even the ones with limited screen time. For a standard (read: non HD) disc, the image is fantastic, though I watched it on a PS3 so the upconverting may have helped. The surround sound mix is totally immersive and goes a long way to bring you into the story. The action sequences, while somewhat derivative, are brilliant and very well staged and executed. All of this is served spectacularly well by the music, which is a combination of Oakenfold's signature breakbeat techno and selected songs by other artists, and is never off putting or out of place. Also, the anime style, a blend of cell shaded 2D and CGI, is reminiscent of Appleseed, only a bit more fluid and stylized. The Japanese audio track is solid as to be expected, and to my surprise the English dub is actually very well done. Bonus points for that.

All told, Vexille is a must buy for cyberpunk, sci fi and anime afficionados, and is definitely reference material for your home theatre system.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

To summarize my thoughts in one phrase I'd say that this is unfortunately one of those production that just fall short of achieving greatness.

It has most of the essential elements right ; The main storyline is original and interesting enough, artistically speaking its on par with what is to be expected of any big animation studio at the time and furthermore it has just enough action throughout not to be dull.

For me, its biggest flaw has to do with characters development ; Motivations of each protagonist while made obvious are SO one-dimensional it give no chance to the viewer to get drawn-in to the storyline.

Since the whole theme of the movie is about 'humanity' and what it represent to be human, one would say this make the ending sequence appear especially hollow.

It would have been interesting to emphasize on the love,hate hopes & fears of the doomed Japanese denizen (as well as of those of Mariah's crew members) instead of merely presenting them as background elements ready for the proverbial 'Grinder'.

This is especially aggravating with the main 'villain' whose dialogs & motivations are so 'cliche' they made me cringe.

Had they for instance removed the whole first part set in 'Japamerica' and merely had Serra's team wiped out upon attempting infiltration (oh please kill Leon already!) and instead had her stranded far from home grieving for her friends and surrounded by 'enemies' who later became people who then became friends, then you might have had a good emotional setting for what came next.

In short, an above average production, pretty to look at all the while being mostly forgettable ; No reasons to get out of your way to get it, yet with enough good content that you should at least see it.

completely original story line, amazing animation. Enough action, incredible acting. I really got involved with the characters in the story. It was interesting to see how it all went down in the end.

Its so different then any other movie I have seen this year. You can make parallel of any other sci-fi film. But if Vixelle borrows from any film, it turns it around and does its own way.

The fast past action slows down in the middle to engage you in the characters. Its great, like the main character Vixelle, she wakes up in a town, and is lost. You are lost. In no time, the plot is dropped and personally left speech less. Cannot recommend this enough. Well that and Death Note.

The plot: After Japan withdraws from the United Nations and expels all foreigners, the West becomes increasingly suspicious that Japan is conducting illegal research on robotics and transhumanism.

Vexille is a generic cyberpunk story about of the evils of transhumanism, megacorporations, isolationism, and imperialism. The art is beautiful, but it seems wasted on such a derivative and clichéd plot. The story had some real potential, but they decided to dumb everything down, remove all subtlety, and turn the antagonist into a James Bond villain. This is the kind of movie that has themes that a 15 year old would find incredibly deep and philosophical, mixing in generic cyberpunk themes with Romanticism and technophobia. Very little of the movie was actually engaging. Both the characters and the action sequences were flat and mostly interchangeable.

Maybe this movie had a point when it railed against the lack of soul in technological advancement: the CGI art was beautiful but entirely soulless.

Saw this as world premiere at Locarno festival. In 2K DLP projection on 27m wide screen. Looked very good apart from some aliasing at times. The film borrows visually from "Dune" (sandworms) and some others but it's quite interesting with its mix of not photo realistic and more realistic CGI elements. Will look great on Blue Ray HD disc. The story is about a Japan of the future which has shielded itself from all foreign surveillance for 10 years so nobody knows what is going on. There are suspicions of illegal production of androids by a mega corporation with unclear goals, potentially dangerous to the human race on a global scale.

Anime and I don't agree. I tend to be driven away from seeing any by the sheer number of idiotic fans that the genre seems to draw. Countless of teenage boys and girls with identity issues flock to anime movies and conventions like flies to dung salads. And often they find it necessary to dress up like their favourite Japanimation character and get on my nerves.

My date suggested that we go to this. Many of the better things I could be doing came to mind, but being the wimpy unmanly pushover I am, I agreed.

When the movie started, I was mildly impressed at a slightly unusual art style which only rarely pandered to the anime clichés that we all know and hold in great contempt. There is one particular chase scene in this movie which I found to be particularly enthralling and for the most part the movie did hold my attention.

However, my main gripe is that the characters are very cookie cutter. They're about as deep and well thought out as your average fanfiction writer's self insertion character. The plot was great, the style was great, the characters were stinky.

While it was only an average fair as a movie, it was better than I was expecting and worthwhile. Worthwhile as long as you can stand screaming idiots who believe they speak Japanese better than Emperor Hirohito.

There are different elements in this film that simply clash with each other. There is the 3D animation that brings some very cool effects, but then almost no facial expression. Watching the film is like waiting for an in game animation to end so you can continue playing. Then there are the ideas in the film, that are very bold, but they are not really backed by a political and technological realism. The elite team that starts the film comes with these cool robotic suits, but they serve almost no purpose in the story. And I could go on and on.

The thing is that I liked the film, but it was like a jagged experience (pun intended) since there were great scenes, then really bad ones, then some great again, then some bad ones again. All ups and downs. When I think of this movie compared with others, what comes in my mind is Final Fantasy. The same weird immersion in a 3D world, but not really a strong emotional experience.

Bottom line: better than most, could have been better. Nice sci-fi, all 3D CGI.

Where did this movie come from? I rented it with reserved anticipation because it looked like another generic anime action movie. I had no idea I was about to witness the greatest animated cinematic experience of my entire life.

Over the past few years I've grown fond of Japanese anime action films. My favorites are "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children", "Appleseed", "Karas: The Prophecy and Revelation", and "Ghost In the Shell." Yeah, I also like a lot of the artsy stuff like "5 Centimeters Per Second", "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", and the most of the Studio Ghibli portfolio, but nothing wets my palette like a great anime action movie. And my goodness did "Vexille" wet my palette!

In the year 2077, an elite commando unit infiltrates Japan to expose their technological secrets to the world. Character development is weak, but the storyline is excellent, with plenty of engaging scenarios, unexpected surprises, and formidable antagonists. The visuals are outstanding and the score is unorthodox and refreshing. The action scenes are also stunning. Whether it's a mansion infiltration, a high speed motorcycle pursuit, or an escape from enigmatic machina, the choreography, editing, and placement of the virtual camera are all top notch. One 11-minute scene is unquestionably the most nerve-racking and utterly spectacular action/suspense sequence in the history of animated cinema. Nothing comes close to this in the world of anime action. Nothing.

Now, anyone who reads my other IMDb comments knows that there are two things that I really hate: Hollywood movies and art-house snobs. Of course, I'm sure that those stuck-up snobs will urinate all over this movie due to the relative lack of character development, but "Vexille" thrives so much on the action and storyline that the characters earn our concern because of how they are absorbed within this exceptionally crafted conflict. This is NOT a brainless action movie. The aforementioned 11-minute extravaganza does not exist for eye candy and superficial beauty alone (like most of the scenes in "FFVII: Advent Children"). It has a significant emotional weight behind it which makes the viewer clench their seat in apprehension for every single second of the entire sequence. I know, I know; the snobs would rather watch a couple kids walk around in a war zone collecting rice for two hours instead of an entertaining action movie. So maybe they should just spare us the "high and mighty" routine and not even bother watching this movie to begin with. (God knows they should've skipped "The Machine Girl.")

One enigmatic complaint I've heard on the web is with regards to the dialogue. Some have claimed it to be "cheesy", but I honestly cannot recall more than one or two sentences that apply. (Believe me, I know cheese when I see it.) Most of the dialogue is rather intelligent and there is a noticeable lack of melodrama. Seriously, there are virtually NO eye-rolling moments in this movie, which is a huge positive.

I honestly cannot express in words how awesome "Vexille" is. It's almost like I'm in a state of shock or something, because I just can't get this movie out of my head for a split second. Things might change over the course of weeks and subsequent viewings (of which there will be many, I promise you that), but as of this very moment, this film may have just cracked my Top 20 All Time list (live action included).

Just watch it and judge for yourself. From the very first shot right up til the end, this movie is just non-stop entertainment. And why on earth are theaters showing some stupid kung fu panda tripe instead of this spectacular action film?

I just finished viewing Vexille, then I read the review from TwitchFilm, and I gotta say I completely agree with the reviewer's assertion. While Appleseed has a number of interesting scenes, this is the stronger film overall. The animation is crisp and believable, the settings are beautifully realized, and the narrative is stronger by far and carries with it a poignant message of dissension to benign racism and ultra-nationalism.

There's a recurring scene in the film in which a "community leader" sits vacantly and hangs his head. This basically captures in a snapshot my view of the adult Japanese person - the conservative fatalist who contemplates a pressing issue for a long time and in the end makes the wrong choice. I'm glad to be proved wrong in this case.

7/10

I really liked the story in this film. Easily one of the best anime stories I've seen. I'd say it's like "Ghost in the Shell" meets "Resident Evil". This film is an Action, Sci-Fi with a bit of a drama, horror undertone. The visuals are amazing. It has strong CG look but the textures almost looked hand colored. It has a real unique look to it. I can't explain. The score seemed a bit thrown together. The songs didn't seem to fit into what was happening on screen. Paul Oakenfold did a pretty poor job with the score if you ask me. The sound effects were well done and the voice acting was good. This film is worth seeing for it's great story and rich animation.

From what i can see in most of the negative comments. it is like most film critics. the comments are being made with very little, if NO prior experience to this group of specialist animation.

Most of the "vexille" story line has been insinuated in the Appleseed series. if you watch the Appleseed films and read a couple of the early comics, you will have the prior knowledge to fill in the gaps in this "weak story".

The way this film has been produced is stereotypical to Masamune Shirow's writing and i would assume it is an impression of Shinji Aramaki's and John Woo's directing.

however i'd agree that this film is not for those who are new to Japanese animation as a lot of this is too close to home and yet too unbelievable.

When I first came across this movie online I checked out the plot synopsis on here and decided to give it a look. I was expecting lots of fighting in the future style sci-fi, but instead found this to be an incredible and profound film which has yet to leave my mind.

First off, the special effects are amazing. There were many scenes throughout this film that blew me away. The camera angles, choreography, and the atypical soundtrack were all done and chosen impeccably. There is a particular action sequence in this film which had me riveted to my seat and completely engrossed to my screen.

A lot of people have said that the dialogue is pretty dry (they're right), but I found that the depth of this story is almost completely revealed through the images on the screen than through the narration. As a result, the limited dialogue allows you to insert many of your own emotions into the film making it a very unique and personal experience.

Overall, the film is an enthralling story of survival and salvation in a very bleak and downright frightening future. I guarantee this movie will be on your mind after your done with it and many of you will probably end up revisiting it.

A must see. 8/10.

Here I was watching this movie by pure chance 7 years after its release (boy, time flies). I am a fan of Japanese anime, a genre that is utterly unique in the world, far preferable to me than the Disney affair.

Still, throughout many recent anime movies, there seems to have been a trend toward more impressive graphics and CG, but at the cost of losing an actual storyline and "heart." By "heart," I mean something one feels when watching say something like "Galaxy Express 999"

Not that "Vexille" is on the same level, but it stands out among the flood of recent anime that pleases the eye yet leaves the soul unsatisfied. Compared to more modern anime, the human characters visually look primitive, lacking in natural facial naturalness and detail, but the mecca CG is still impressive, mainly because it serves the story and spirit of the movie. Well done.