Appleseed Ex Machina (HD/DVD Combo + DVD Video/Warner)
Picture:
B+/B-/B- Sound: B/B-/B- Extras: B+/B Film: B-
Note: The title is also available in
the Blu-ray format.
Appleseed Ex Machina is a sequel to a 2004 film
entitled Appleseed (reviewed
elsewhere on this site), which was
also directed by John Woo and produced by Shinji Aramaki. Whereas Appleseed
was impressive visually 4 years ago, the standards in 2008 have risen and while
still stunningly nice at points, overall the sequel fails to fully capture the
visual or plot appeal as the first film.
The story of Appleseed Ex Machina
takes place in a post World War III utopian society in which genetically
engineered humans have had the harsh emotions of hate and anger removed. Even though the utopian society of Olympus
seems to be at peace, terrorism around the world still runs rampant. Secret meetings and covert spy missions are
setup in order to attempt to bring the world back to order. Of course everyone knows one land holding all
the cards can turn out bad and when a mad man hacks into the satellite system
to recreate man in his own image and likeness it is up to partners Briareos,
Tereus, Deunan to save the world. Turns
out that Terus is just a genetic copy of Briareos and neither of them like the
situation, but with the world on the line they must put their internal/genetic
trouble aside. (– M.D.).
In the
near future mankind engaged in a non-nuclear war nearly half of the human race
was wiped out. Mankind last hope is the
nation-city, Olympus. Where the humans
who survived live among cyborg, and bioroids (artificially created humans) but
even with all their technologies can they suppress human nature and war? Deunan a human, Briareos a combat cyborg and
Tereus a bioroid of the Special Forces protect and guard Olympus anywhere from
domestic violence to foreign affairs. Things start to go to hell when unknown
terrorist cyborgs start attacking the city and its citizens start going crazy
during the international peace conference. It becomes not only a battle
survival but human civilization itself. This movie is filled with beautiful and
breathtaking views of a futuristic city along with fast pace action and cool characters
that come in with guns blazing. With
explosive scenes and fast paced music, the fights are like showdowns choreographed
like the Matrix with incredible moves, along with sudden slowdowns in a variety
of different settings and locations. The story is interesting for mecha
sci-fi movie, the city is in trouble and it's up to main characters, so get in
the mecha and save the day. (– R.C.).
The film
is interesting, but not exactly this reviewer’s cup of animated tea. The visuals are stunning at points and the
plot is adequate, but overall it is nothing out of this world. The character development the second time
around is lax and the dialogue leaves much to be desired. As the plot starts off exciting, this
reviewer could not help but to feel it drag as time went on. If you are a fan of the first film it is
worth a look, but first time viewers may find the plot, characters, and visuals
too bland for their taste. If the film
is worth anything it is for the explosive action sequences, but all else can be
called merely adequate. (– M.D.).
The
technical features of this High Definition release are very nice, especially in
the areas of picture and extras. The
picture is presented in a 1080p High Definition 1.85 X 1 Widescreen that is
enhanced for 16 X 9 televisions. It is
no surprise that the picture quality is amazingly crisp on this CGI animated
film. Throughout the film the colors are
amazing solid and bright, there is little to no compression issues, with
artifacting being completely absent in this CGI style. The one issue could be that the characters do
not always seem as real as they could be; often times having robotic movements
with skin tones, facial movements and hair that is just not fluid enough to be
real. In other words the characters look
seems a bit dated. With that said,
however, the visual experience is still pretty awesome. The sound is not as solid as this reviewer
would have hoped in its Dolby Digital English 5.1 and special features that are
presented in stereo. At times the sound
presentation makes nice use of all the speakers, but more often than not the
rear speakers are not utilized and the presentation lacks the ‘boom’ and ‘pop’
that should be heard in a battle oriented thriller like Appleseed Ex Machina. (- M.D.)
I thought
this was a great movie, with improving CG movies, the computer graphics are
looking sharper and more realistic and the movement of the characters are
smoother and look more realistic and life-like, at times it
almost feels like watching an acted movie than an
animation. Along with cool and interesting mecha designs, it also raised interesting
themes, ideas, and questions, are cyborgs still humans, does what create
us matter, can the human spirit be found in a machine? An action intense movie,
it appeals to the viewer on many different levels, so if you liked movies or
games like Ghost in the Shell, Matrix, or even Transformers, Appleseed Ex
Machina is a movie definitely worth watching. (- R.C.)
The DVD
side presents the picture in 480p standard definition 2.4 X 1 enhanced for 16 X
9 televisions and a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Neither are as impressive as the HD side, but
adequate for what they are. (– M.D.).
The
extras are very well presented in 1080i or 1080p High Definition, with many
features for fans to enjoy. For those
wondering this HD release features all extras found on the 2-disc special
edition DVD release. The HD release
offers fans a John Woo and Shinji Aramaki featurette that demonstrates their
vision of the Appleseed film, a second featurette on how the film was digitally
brought to life with all new groundbreaking technology, filmmaker commentaries
(Beck & Chou), a featurette on the definitive history of the Appleseed
anime phenomenon, and a final featurette that compares Eastern and Western
styles of art and how the differ, yet are similar at the same time. The extras are very nice and should please
many long time fans. (- M.D.) The DVD
also includes 6 different available languages and subtitles (most I ever heard
or seen for such a release (– R.C.).
This
reviewer was never a huge fan of anime, but Appleseed Ex Machina does bring enough to the table to stand alone
as an action packed CGI experience. The
plot is solid and the action sequences are amazing and even with dragging/poor
dialogue it was an enjoyable experience. (– M.D.).
- Michael P Dougherty II & Ricky Chiang
