Appleseed (Movie)

--> Intro:
Appleseed (AS) tells the story of Deunan and Briaeros, mates on the battlefield. The story revolves around battles, mechas, utopian philosophy and some romance. You will also know about Bioroids, which are cloned humans, but with distinct identities.

--> Animation: (10/10)
Really, earning a 10 from me is tough, but Appleseed really amazed me in terms of sheer graphic quality. It's a perfect blend of traditional animation, coupled with very well made CG. The backgrounds and environments are extremely detailed and well done. The same quality can be found in the character designs. Just see how detailed Deunan's hair is, or how the general mechas are ... done. At one point, you see Deunan resting on a bed. As she drops, you can even see the bed sheets crumpling in very realistic ways. Or the various water and nature scenes, specially rain. They are truly magnificent. AS's animation really deserves applause.

--> Sound: (8/10)
Not much to say here, since the music score of AS is not really that varied. The action scenes have their BGM and I can say these were well selected. They really highlight the action. Dramatic scenes too have their appropriate music, and here too, it's ok. Not much to say, nothing bad, nothing absolutely noticeable. Character voices are well done. However, Deunan's voice is kind of too "feminine". Ok, I know she's a girl, but still, after seeing her fight? I'd put a graver voice on her. xD

--> Story: (9/10)
The story too is really awesome. The plot is consistent, and has lots of twists and turns, until you are told of the final secret, which you really don't expect. The plots flow smoothly, giving details as they flow, and not just flood you at the end. It's an interesting story, very sc-fi like, peppered with a good dose of action. You won't be bored watching it. Maybe at the beginning, when there is quite a lot of talking, but it does not last long. It's a nice story about humans, bioroids, how an utopia functions, how humans can be intolerant, and how the desire for total utopia can be bad. It has some subtle philosophy too, mind you! Overall, I liked.

--> Characters: (7/10)
Maybe, this is the only point AS deceived me a bit. The characters themselves are interesting to follow, and learn about. Their stories and backgrounds are very plausible. But what I didn't appreciate is Deunan and Briaeros hogging all the screen time. They are present in almost every scene! What about the side characters? In my opinion, they didn't get developed enough. We could have been given more details about their lives and backgrounds. Consider Hitomi. At the end, we still don't know much about her. About her life after work, her relationships and stuff, even if she's the secondary female lead! Even the main characters Deunan and Briaeros didn't get that much of elaboration. The developers of AS should have included a bit more of character elaboration.

--> Enjoyment: (8/10)
It's not really a light film to just sit there and enjoy. Barely any humor in it. The enjoyment comes from the great storyline and the well-made action scenes. I, personally, really enjoyed it. AS also has a good rewatch value. I have rewatched it 3 times, just for the battle scenes and the story.

--> Outro (Overall: 8/10):
AS makes a good story, combined with well-made animation and ok-type characters. Therefore, it makes a good watch. Go check it out, you will probably not regret it.

STORY: 5/10
The plot wasn't all bad. The internal conflict was a particularly fascinating thing, particularly when you find out who the real enemy is. And the idea that a peaceful society is really a cage may be used a lot, but is still interesting in its own way. However, for people like myself who haven't read the manga beforehand, the history of this distopian universe might be difficult to comprehend, thus decreasing any real enjoyment plot-wise, as you're left wondering "why?" the whole time. All you get is that some global war is going on, and then "bam!" suddenly this "utopia" comes into play, and ... the previous fighting doesn't mean a thing.

ART: 10/10
One thing I can definitely agree to is that Appleseed has some truly fantastic animation. Even if it possessed nothing else, that the art is spectacular is something nobody can deny. The opening sequence was especially eye-catching, with the distopian city design.

SOUND: 8/10
Being something of a dance music fan, I loved the soundtrack to the movie. Basement Jaxx, Boom Boom Satellites and Paul Oakenfold's work gave me something new to add to my rapidly growing iTunes playlist, and I'm a particular fan of the songs "Good Luck" and "Burns Attack." They all seemed to tie in well with the scene in which they appeared also.

CHARACTER: 3/10
Kinda bland, I have to say. They replace character depth with lots of action, and the writers seemed more interested in displaying Deunan's "kick-assery" rather than her personality. There wasn't as much insight into Deunan and Briareos' relationship as I believe there should've been, and while there was obviously some tension due to Briareos' being a cyborg, I still thought that particular aspect could've been portrayed better. Uranus and Hades were interesting in their dislike for bioroids, and Hitomi was a curious choice for Deunan's "best friend." Otherwise, the stage goes entirely to the Elders, and the choices they made.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL: 5/10
Okay, so, Appleseed is nothing spectacular. Shiny fight scenes, boppy music and pretty animation sequences make it worth the watch for some like myself, though if you're looking for intricate plot and detailed characters it may be best to divert elsewhere.

Based on the manga from Masamune Shirow and directed by... (Hold on a second... let's see... AH!) Shinji Aramaki - man behind such works as... I suppose he previously directed “Part 3” of Megazone. You know: the Weakest Megazone 23 OVA. He directed that. Therefore it comes as no surprise, that this movie is as much of a cliched jumbled mess of a ideas as it is. And don't even get me started on the dated CGI that ruins almost every single character design (except Briareos).

Appleseed (2004) is a CGI Blockbuster Action Sci-Fi Movie that somehow takes a Simple Story/Concept and ruins much of the ... fun or intrigue surrounding it. Perhaps the most telling way that it accomplishes this is by breaking every single rule of "Show don't Tell" and spoonfeeding every fucking detail in every single conversation possible. That last part might be a little exaggerated, but Jesus Christ, it comes pretty damn close to it.

With a Fitting introduction surrounding an opening 6 minute action scene with no context or investment, all filled with dated matrix esq. timelapse sequences. A little after it wastes no time and It quickly ruins Hitomi by turning her from a fun-loving party-girl to a hollow exposition dumping machine. She has one scene that remotely resembles emotion and it’s an "on-the-nose" cliched dialogue about "love" and "anger" instead of the "show don't tell" from the 1988 Movie with Hitomi trying and failing to flirt with guys, while drunk from the partying.

In fact, Most of the Characters just feel like stiff versions of their original counterparts. Deunan is mopy and depressed instead of being a fun-loving badass. Briareos is stiff, unusually bitter and cold for much of the runtime rather than being a Man of Steel Armor with a Heart of Gold. (In the same vain as perhaps Alphonse from FMA.) Athena's role in the Movie is confusing and never expounded the same way it was in the Original, despite this movie's longer runtime. Hitomi is ruined the most perhaps, going from her bubbly charming personality to this boring CGI husk of a person.

The Witty Comedy that gave the Characters a sense of lighthearted fun, likeability and breathing room between the Drama is also GONE! Not even just toned down, it simply isn't there. I do not remember there being a single joke. Not even from Hitomi, it makes the characters downright boring. It's instead replaced with constant usage of exposition that is placed without any respect to the context of its scenes.

Perhaps the Biggest Flaw of this Movie is the lack of Good Villains and a complete Lack of Moral Ambiguity. This is not to say, that every good story needs it, however, when dealing with philosophical themes it fails miserably precisely because of a lack of ambiguity. The Main Villains of this Movie are TERRIBLE. In direct contrast, the villains in the 88 Anime were compelling, their motives were reasonable and understandable. They had a coherent ideology and real sense of purpose. "DA Ebil Cliched Military" Villains pale in comparison to 'the Terrorist and the Traitor' from the first Movie. They have no clear reasons for disliking the Biodroids or the Order of GAAIA, other than "oh, they're just ebil natzeees!" it's ridiculously black-n-white, one-dimensional and plain childish. What this means for the Themes is that it makes them one-sided, simplistic messages that are NOT open to questioning, or disagreement, which ends up becoming a detriment to the conflict and the themes, thereby making them NOT compelling.

The Action Scenes all focus on being as bombastic as possible, trying to squeeze as much action into the scene as possible instead of intricately delivering with planning and/or skill. (i,e; the shooting scene near the end of the first movie, or the arrest of the terrorists.) There are only about two scenes that are anything close to providing good action. There is also a considerable lack of stakes (until the very end) which makes it plain boring to watch.

Around an hour into the movie, we finally get an effective flashback scene that is done half-decently, right after which we return to the same "ebil military", exposition dump, "tell-don't-show" crap, with 4 plot-twists in quick succession, making the plot feel bloated and overdone, much like the graphics.

Speaking of which, the Dated CGI becomes an eye-sore after a while and Janky-looking Character Animation ruins the emotions that the characters are supposed to express. Couple that with the Horrible Soundtrack, with hipster music and compositions that sound like they belong in a 2000s B-movie or low budget video-game.

Which is why I am completely lost and confused as to why this is rated higher than the 1988 OVA that did far more with far little. It's a shame that adaptation is acknowledged less as it was significantly better. The only thing that the 2004 Film has over the 1988 Film was the Dub. The Dubbing was an improvement, obviously because more modern dubs tend to be better produced, however other than that I could not see a single thing that this Film did even moderately well.

4.5/10 (Bad CGI Blockbuster Movie from the Early 2000s, with much of the cliches of that Era.)