Appleseed Saga Ex Machina

I've not seen the original Appleseed, but I've been told the two movies aren't connected at all. Still, not having seen the first meant that I had no idea what to expect for the second...

STORY - The sypnosis given on this website is crap (as is ANN's, since that's where it came from) and the information it highlights has little importance in the movie, Wikipedia's summary is a little better, though still lacking in proper details. I suppose those summaries are sub par in part because the movie's complexity, though. There are actually several smaller subplots interlinking throughout the Ex Machina, and the grand scheme ... the characters must overcome is not clarified until maybe halfway through. This makes for some interesting crossover between the substories, but it also means that someone who doesn't care for the subplots could become quickly disinterested before the main one locks into place.

Neither the substories nor the main story are particularly innovative though, probably because cybernetics, war, and mind control are such frequently visited themes within the sci-fi and cyberpunk genres. They're still entertaining enough, but there's definitely nothing profoundly new or deep here. The love story is cute, but lacking substance (I always dislike it when characters' love for each other is 100% pure and lacking in any uncertainties or doubts). The villain's motivation seems a bit contrived and the automation of a mechanized disaster a cop-out. It was disappointing mostly in that there seemed to be potential for a lot more material because the environment was set up so well, but none of it was ever realized.

CHARACTER - Ex Machina is another movie that falls into the trap of a full cast of generic characters. Deunan is a femme fatale that might be called a wannabe Motoko Kusanagi except that she's completely and utterly in love with Briareos, who himself is a typical tough guy cyborg. This relationship seems to force Deunan into a more typical "female" role, placing her in situations where she inevitably needs to be saved by her man and taking away from her otherwise badass persona. This might have been a decent way to put more depth in her character and I might be less irked about it if it weren't for the fact that Deunan seems to change completely depending on whether the scene calls for her to be badass or vulnerable, and there doesn't seem to be much of a thread connecting her two sides.

The entire character of Tereus and his subsequent subplot seemed pointless to me. While it seemed to toss a wrench in the canon relationship for a little bit, it didn't last long and ultimately amounted to nothing because Deunan and Briareos's love is pure and nothing can pry them apart! As a "bioroid," he wasn't supposed to have very many emotions, but he more or less acted the part of a normal human, albeit one with a flat personality. Everyone else was very much the same -- Athena was a typical suspicious leader-type, the commander was a typical commander, the villain was a typical mad scientist that you recognized at first sight even though you probably shouldn't have, and so on. But you know what bugged me the most? That one guy that always seemed willing to ignore all rules and protocol to help out our protagonists even though he had no clear motivation or reason to do so. Come on. That's just cheap.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - Ex Machina was very beautifully animated in a style reminiscent of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The use of motion capture made the characters' movements realistic and smooth, and the highly rendered environments made sure that they fit in their surroundings. The mecha designs were unique and fun too. A few of the special effects (such as explosions) could have probably looked better, but in general, the movie was very pleasing to the eye. (Don't forget to keep an eye out for your John Woo doves!)

MUSIC - It's a pretty score, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

VOICE ACTING - I saw this movie dubbed, and I must say, it was a pretty darn good dub. The voices were appropriate (if not typecasted), anyway, and with so many Greek-themed names like Briareos and Athena, pronunciations were likely much more accurate than they were in the original. Wikipedia also notes that the movie's forward is more detailed in the English release.

OVERALL - Ex Machina wasn't a bad movie. As a cyberpunk fan, the story was alright enough, if a little lacking in originality. The characters could have definitely been better, but if nothing else, they were on par with the story's sophistication. The animation was probably its strongest point, but it was good enough that it may be worth a watch just for that.

As far as I know, this shouldn’t be named Appleseed...

There is no real story; the 15 first minutes are there for nothing. You can even guess all major events 20 mins before watching the scene.

The art is what make cry the most. What happened of the winning cell-shading system? Every character are now made with regular 3d frame with almost no expression except their eyebrow… Some of the character changed so much from the 1rst movie.

For example, who would have told who was Hitomi in the movie if no one told it? And for Nike??? Where the hell is the sexy secretary Nike? I ... was sure she was one of the bad guys before Athena called her by her name.

As for the sounds, it’s not bad at all. I’m not picky for that as long as you don’t play country music (no offence) in a mecha fight.

I think that they screwed up the characters. As far as I can tell Hitomi is supposed to be a pacifist but she is not that defenseless in this movie. We can also see our dear Deunan “dressed” for a party. I looked on the web without any answer on which style they took that suit but damn! It really doesn’t fit for a futuristic world (2133 A.D.) where everything is pretty.

As for my comments, I think this is one of the worst works from Shirow Masamune books and I can’t even understand why John Woo was the one who produced that. All these bad parts made me loss any interest for the movie after an hour. BUT, IT IS NOT A BAD MOVIE. Just don’t expect a true sequel to the first Appleseed or try not to look for similarities.

Mod Edit: This review may contain spoilers.

This film starts off with the most illogical SWAT attack on a building ever, consisting of Deunan just basically throwing herself at the enemy, not a care in the world if she alerts other bad guys either through her bullets blowing crap up or the dispatched baddies not reporting in.

Why are UN diplomats even being held hostage in a cathedral? No explanation given, its all just part of this John Woo produced disastrous attempt at cool posturing. That is all that's on display here, one ridiculous pose after another.

Ex Machina goes through every cliche in the book. ... Dialogue about a daughter from a secondary grunt character = person who will obviously die later on. A character who appears early on who looks like a ghoul = obvious bad guy revealed later on. There's even a scene where the main bad guy explains his entire plan FOR NO REASON.

Needless to say the story was probably ghost-written by a 12 year old relative of screenwriter Kiyoto Takeuchi. There are so many plot holes, contrived and convoluted coincidences and cringe-worthy dialogue it's like being insulted for 1 hour and 44 minutes; these people think you have no intelligence at all, it’s like everyone involved in this horrible mess of a production has only just discovered filmmaking. Who knows, maybe their next production will discover subtext? Just kidding, lets not get ahead of ourselves.

The animation in the previous film had a more refined and unique look, whereas in Ex Machina it's more polished and generic. The dip in quality from the first film to the second is heavy all across the board.

John Woo continues his reign of terror, even as producer, and to think this was the man who gave us Chow Yun Fat sliding down a banister shooting people with a toothpick in his mouth. The world weeps.