Search DVJ 2.0

Pull Quote:

the two most "intense" scenes of the whole movie the plot became so horrendously infeasible that the ENTIRE audience erupted into laughter

DVJ Photo

Adverts

Appleseed

Review by Honey Thunder

Anime Boston Preview Screening

Company: Geneon

Movie

U.S. Release Date: October 16 2004

Rating: PG-13 (Violence, adult situations)

EXTERNAL EXAM

The year is 2135 AD and Deunan Knute has been fighting a war that has long since ended. Literally plucked from this nightmarish existence, she is brought to Olympus , a shining utopian city where Humans and their former enemy - Bioroids (clones) now live in harmonious coexistence devoid of strife.

Her former lover and comrade-in-arms Briareos is now a cyborg (mostly) assigned to protected Deunan. Why does she need protection in this brave new world? Who would be out to destroy her? Should her trust be placed in Humans....or Bioroids?

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: While director Shinji Aramaki keeps the action going, writers Haruka Handa and Tsutomu Kamishrio come up a little short in the writing department. A story so ineptly conceived and poorly executed, seems out of character for Masumune Shirow. Both Handa and Kamishrio make their screenwriting debut with Appleseed, and this could very well be the source of the problem. Shirow’s works are all involved. Each character is highly developed and exists in an intricately complex world. Events unfold slowly to reveal what is happening beneath. Just like hastily peeling onion skin will cause it to tear, hastily trying to unravel Appleseed to fit in 105 minutes tears the story apart.

ACTING: Ai Kobayashi's portrayal of Deunan does capture her grit and capacity for tenderness. The standout (for lack of a better term) performance came from Yuki Matsuoka's Hitomi. Sweet and tender and incapable of intense emotion - her upbeat yet quiet voicing conveys a woman emotionally cut-off at the knees. The Seven Old Men, all performed by Ikuo Nishikawa, give the film it's needed levity. My biggest complaint is how Uranus and Hades were portrayed. (By Yuzuru Fujimoto and Takehito Koyasu, respectively.) Just because their names are taken from mythological deities of the underworld doesn't mean that they have to be acted by the two deepest voices in Japan. Voice acting isn't just the timbre and pitch of one's voice. Allot of credible nuance was sacrificed for the sake of pitch.

FAN SERVICE: For you fanboys & fangirls there is one hell of a panty shot early on. You do get to see lots of cleavage and a nearly naked Hitomi (Deunan's personal assistant..of sorts). But that's about it.

FINAL EXAM

Saturday October 16th, Appleseed made its American premiere as part of the Second Annual Boston Fantastic Film Festival at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Appleseed is the film adaptation of Masumune Shirow's (Ghost in the Shell creator) manga. While it looks and sounds great, the bad writing and dull acting keeps Appleseed from becoming a true classic.

The story moves at a decent pace but there just isn't enough back story for me to understand or care why Bioroids can't reproduce and why Appleseed is so important to the survival of the world. Why do Humans and Bioroids fight? Why is there such animosity and subterfuge? Who knows! The lack of back story is one offense I can try to overlook, but at the two most "intense" scenes of the whole movie the plot became so horrendously infeasible that the ENTIRE audience erupted into laughter. These events are so painfully contrived it took me a good five minutes to get back into the movie. Don't suspend your disbelief...leave it at home.

The acting was...decent. But I certainly didn't feel moved by the experience. The poorly written story doomed the actors to make the best of it, but there's only so much polishing one can do.

If you can handle the crappy plot and lack-luster acting there are some incredible things happening animation wise. There's jaw-droopingly gorgeous animation combining outrageously realistic 3D computer animation and out-right bitchin' cel animation. And the cell shading truly ROCKS. There were several moments where the computer and cell animation combined in such a manner that the images looked like stills from a live action film. Overall the animation was incredibly fluid. One stand-out (of many) is a shot of Deunan looking out of the car window as she and Hitomi speed along the freeway. As we see glorious Olympus rush by we see the image speed away in the reflection of the car's side mirror. The subtleties of the animation truly make Appleseed a brilliant art piece. During an emotionally charged conversation between Deunan and Briareos, I saw tiny dust specks float and move through the golden afternoon light shining in through the room's only window. There are several moments where the computer and cell animation combine and the images look like stills from a live action film. The only negative aspect of the animation is only negative when compared to the quality of fluidity of the rest of film. As the residents of Olympus walk through the park their movements are considerably less fluid then the rest of the movement within the film.

The sound design in Appleseed was incredible from the large scale Mechanical THUD of the Mobile Fortresses to the subtleties of Deunan falling backwards onto a soft yet firm bed. Even in the chaotic fight scenes the sounds of the spent shells hitting and bouncing off of the pavement matched the film flawlessly. I could tell the material of the floor based on the sounds of barefoot steps padding softly. I was particularly impressed with the way the wire whip moved aurally.

It's such a shame when the elements for a great anime are present and they just never come together. I'll probably check out the dub to see if the quality of acting improves but the problems lie too deep for translation and acting to fix. If you're into sound design and watching anime for the animation's sake - check out Appleseed. If you like to actually ENJOY the anime you watch, don't waste your time.

Return to Top

Back to the Special Features Page