Appleseed - Ex Machina [Blu-ray][Region Free]

I'll keep my review brief as I can add little to many of the comments made. I personally loved the animation and the storyline. I'm not =familiar with John Woo, so I can't really compare his work and also he only produced it, he didn't direct it. That was done by the same guy who directed the opriginal Appleseed film.

Where I am annoyed and disapointed, and why I have only given it it 4 stars is the lack of the original Japanese soundtrack. I have a lot of Japanese Anime and all, but this one, have the original soundtrack. I can only think that Warner Brothers had something to do with this. The original Appleseed was done by Optimum Asia.

The japanese had taken so much trouble with the lipsink, it's ashame we cannot completely appreaciate it now the Japanese soundtrack is missing!

Thank you Warners!!!

One of the more underdeveloped storylines from "Appleseed" was the relationship between Deunan Knute and her cyborg love, Briareos.

Well, "Appleseed Ex Machina" more than makes up for that. In fact, this CGI action flick boasts upgrades in every area -- a tighter plot, more complex conspiracies, and more lifelike animation. It's a stunning experience with loads of fiery, spinning action scenes, albeit with a slightly improbable villain.

Olympus has a new threat -- brainwashed cyborgs that are kidnapping officials, and disrupting planetary peace. During a rescue mission, Briareos is injured and hospitalized for awhile -- and Deunan introduced to her new partner Tereus -- a warrior bioroid cloned from Briareos' DNA. She's furious, Briareos is depressed, and all three are confused by Tereus' similarities to Briareos.

But when President Athena calls an international conference, E-SWAT only narrowly stops an attack force -- of cyborgs and ordinary humans who have somehow been possessed by a mechanical goo. Their message: "I am Halcon... all will be one." And worst of all, Briareos is somehow being affected by the baddies, so he decides to do some investigating on his own. Now Deunan, Briareos and Tereus must join forces despite their tension, and stop a malevolent conspiracy that threatens the entire world....

While the first "Appleseed" movie had a rather simple plot, "Appleseed Ex Machina" tends toward complexity. Everything is bigger -- the conspiracies, the mad scientist stuff, the potential warfare, and even the love story. And despite its fuller plot, the sequel actually manages to cram in some quiet moments between robot battles and personal scuffles.

Director Shinji Aramaki does a pretty good job with a pretty good plot -- he unrolls it gradually, filling it with tension and horror at all the right moments. It kicks off strongly with an explosive, fire-and-darkness battle in an abandoned cathedral, and doesn't slow much down. Lots of explosive battles and zombiesque attacks, but not so many that it overwhelms the storyline.

Along the way, Aramaki drops in some very "human" scenes, such as a funeral and Hitomi's glammy birthday party. In fact, there are even some funny, cute moments such as Briareos and Deunan tussling over some monitoring wires in the hospital. These moments keep them acting like people.

What's the problem? Well, while Aramaki succeeds in surprising us with the main villain, it's revealed rather late in the movie, and there's never much of a motive.

But the CG animation is stunning. There's everything from mid-air shootouts to serpentine silver tentacles. Even the settlings are striking, with their Greco-futuristic marble, columns and sci-fi gadgets. And there's a breathtaking level of detail -- reflections, light, raindrops on Briareos' metal face, and tiny facial chances. Some character still have "doll face," but not as much.

But this movie gets its heart from the love triangle, which is thankfully handled in a mature manner. Deunan and Briareos' loving, intense relationship gets plenty of cute moments, despite the confusion that Tereus causes them. And Tereus is a well-drawn rival, with a lot of Briareos' rough kindness, but also the insecurities of being a "copy."

And Aramaki particularly concentrates on Briareos' fears that Deunan will prefer a flesh-and-blood lover, and that he is gradually losing his sanity. There's an undercurrent of raw pain when he screams at Tereus, "why do you have everything I've lost?"

"Appleseed Ex Machina" is a worthy sequel that actually tops the preceding film -- a stunning CGI shell around a solid sci-fi/love story. Definitely worth checking out.

Appleseed - Ex Machina [2007]
First off i have to say i thought this movie wasn't half as bad as some of the reviews make out. I think from japanese anime genre point of view it offers absolutely nothing new, but i have got to the point whereby its what i expect now. Thats not to suggest its a bad thing because chances are if you buy the dvd your an anime fan and you buy anime because the style and the genre are what interest you. The story itself which does take a while to warm up does at least make an admiral attempt at introducing more of the love interest between Deunan and Briareos which does maintain the continuity of the previous film. Deunan herself although at times firey during the film movie does seem quite abit more fragile than what you would expect and Briareos well same old. Unfortunately everyone else characterisation wise are kinda sidelined and the film doesn't want to explore them at all. I thought Hitomi in particular was woefully neglected. Although they did momentarily touch on the relationship between Briareos and Aeacus which although short lived was done well. The so called Briareos clone "Tereus" who played the typically cold, hard but so wanting to get with the girl excuse me if you've heard this before cliche is best left unmentioned. Animation is good but noticeably different from the first, i actually thought it was more akin to original anime styling than the previous film which seemed to go out of its way to dazzle you with the cg element and for this its big thumbs up, i think it worked well, sure there were times when background design, animation could be abit lacklustre but generally it was good throughout. The biggest issue with this release and not with the film is the lack of japanese audio, i always watch in original japanese its the best way to experience anime in my opinion. Why on earth Warner brothers have opted for a German dub as well as the usual English is beyond me, its a shame Optimum Asia didn't pick this up like the first because im sure they would have included it without question. On the subject of audio the english (US) dub as per most anime is adequate, neither good nor absolutely horrendous..no surprise there. I mean it probably all sounds negative and given some of the negative reviews against the film i don't really want to give that impression. Because it is better than i thought it would be and that has to be worth something and i certainly think if you picked up the first cg film you will enjoy this film greatly.