Appleseed (2004)

Appleseed: Directed by Shinji Aramaki. With Ai Kobayashi, Jûrôta Kosugi, Yuki Matsuoka, Mami Koyama. In a utopian society created at the end of the third world war, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind?

“First things first; if youu0026#39;re looking for a literary masterpiece or an anime masterful like the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii, then Appleseed is not for you. Itu0026#39;s plot is cliché with the overused science fiction premise of struggle between two coexisting races and the flaws and sins of humans, and the general execution of the plot is also in no way an outstanding one of the genre.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat Appleseed truly is, is a technological achievement in 3D animation for Japanese anime. Itu0026#39;s animation style is far from Hollywood animation features like Finding Nemo and Shrek, instead it uses cel-shading technology which weu0026#39;ve already seen in video games, and takes it up to a very high and polished level. The result is a beautiful movie with jaw-dropping animation, such that one cannot doubt that this style will pave the way for the future of anime movies. The range of emotions expressed through the CG is impressive; and motion capture has worked beautifully into the film, making it a seamless viewing experience. As a whole product, itu0026#39;s graphical presentation rivals that of great 2D animation features.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOther aspects are fairly well done; the music is done fairly well, with the opening song giving it a distinct flavour but later that fades away to the average run-of-the-mill songs that arenu0026#39;t particularly effective in rousing the emotions and senses. The artistic direction is great, with wonderful colors and tones chosen to accentuate the mood from the bleak dark ruins to the pastel colors of the Utopia. Scene execution is also stellar, and the structural development of the movie is natural although inter character relationships are somewhat lacking in development.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs a whole, itu0026#39;s an extremely graphically polished product based on an overused premise.”