FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

destroy-apathy all posts may contain spoilers Animation / Action / spectacle The combination of 3D CGI and 2D hand drawn features was absolutely beautiful. The ability of 3D CGI animation is far superior - in my opinion - than 2D animation at creating epic and immersive worlds for the viewer to be mesmerised by. One of the negatives of CGI is that faces are often nowhere near realistic enough, destroying the illusion as characters become almost impossible to relate to and identify with. This is remedied in Appleseed by using 2D illustrations and animation to cell shade over the characters. They then have a full 3D presence but all the expression that can be generated from hand drawn features, which is seen most prominently in the eyes of the characters. This 2D element also gives the animation more weight; CGI can often look floaty and lose a lot of the impact that a film like this requires. These animation techniques combined brilliantly with the art direction, pacing, editing and all other aesthetic elements. These work together to create a beautifully realised world along with breath taking action set pieces. Just a quick side-note about spectacle and action: Many consider that you can either have narrative or spectacle but I think that that's a big load of rubbish. There are many films that have proved (in my humble opinion of course) that spectacle, contrary to diminishing narrative, adds to a film's ability to immerse the viewer, bringing them into the world. I really don't think that the Matrix would have been as impressive or would it be held held in such high esteem if it hadn't have had its fair share of visual spectacle.Strong Females My childhood film watching was always a mix of hong Kong kung fu films (including Cynthia Rothrock), anime and the usual Hollywood suspects, so I didn't really notice how absolutely useless women are, according to mainstream Hollywood cinema that is. As I got older and watched less anime and Hong Kong kung fu (on accounts of the videovan-man not coming on our street no more - sad days) I began to understand why feminists were always so infuriated with the silver screen. Why do we so rarely see the type of female characters that are presented in this film in any western production. I'm sure there are many exceptions - Ripley from Alien for instance – but on the whole we don't get to see these women. Smart and tough, not without beauty and sex appeal but that not being their absolute defining feature. Not unable to fall in love but also not acting in the sole interest of the (apparently) much more important male lead. In this film it is not only the lead character (Deunan) but I was myself surprised to find the Dr Gilliam character - who was built up as being the greatest mind to have ever existed - to be a woman. I should be ashamed of myself automatically assuming that it would be a man but I guess that is the Hollywood brainwashing that my generation (and many prior) have suffered at the hands of.Cyberpunk This may be disputable but I think the Japanese do cyberpunk themes better than any other national cinema on earth. There is possibly a link there with this interconnectedness of man and machine along with the origins of modern videogames being strongly rooted there. In Appleseed, the cyborg/artificially created humans had slight deviations from the usual "oh but if they can think then don't they deserve life, just like us, blah, blah blah". The use of reproduction as a narrative tool literally uses castration theory as the major threat or centre of importance as the final threat was that mankind would be made completely infertile, subjecting it to a slow extinction. The film breaks down the essence of humanity and life to the ability to reproduce and that the other (irrational) elements of humanity – love, hate, revenge, etc derive from this reproductive urge. The balance between dystopic and utopian visions of the future often straddled by the cyberpunk genre edged on the side of utopian.Plot holes or loose storytelling There is obviously always the chance - which I am not ruling out for a second - that I am a little slow, but there were a few points where I wasn't entirely sure what was happening or more to the point why it was happening, as if some parts of the plot had been squeezed through in too lean a fashion. For instance, why do the gigantic moving fortresses that rise up? Did the elders order this or did Gaia? or did the Army? Or were they simply acting on their own/bioroid behalf? I suspect that problems like this arise in the process of adaptation. In the original comic they may have been fully explained and realised but in the process of cutting corners when translating to screen and coming in at a reasonable time (which this film mostly did really well). In this process, the film not only chopped off the fat of the plot set up, but the muscle along with it.Summary Action, spectacle and visual ability get a massive tick. Characters were pretty basic but fully engaging, respectable and as I said above the lead going to a female character is something I would die to see more of in Western films. The pacing was brilliant coming in under two hours and having a pretty exciting almost climax before more reveals then an even more exciting final set piece. It played the genre game perfectly with enough familiarity to make it easy to engage with and allow yourself to be immersed at the same time as shedding new light on ideas with variation from the norm.Twitter: @destroyapathy and Destroy-apathy blogspot

Vito78 Hi dear Anime-Fans, this comment does not contain spoilers.I have to tell You, Anime was never my No.1 movie priority, but I am open-minded and thanks to my curiosity I saw perhaps one of the best movies ever.As an old "Ghost in the Shell" - fan, I knew how the drill is in such movies, but be sure that Appleseed will definitely blow You away! It has amazing graphics, a story that puts You on an intellectual edge (simply describing the next moral hazard in the future), devastating action scenes and of course a beautiful Deunen (main character).I consider You to watch also "Appleseed 2 - Ex Machina", produced by John Woo, the graphic is MUCH better (yeah, thats possible!) but the story is not as good as in the first movie.I can tell You, I cannot stop looking these movies! :-) Greetings -V-

alar kivi i have seen Appleseed at least 5 times and it only gets better with each viewing. the detail in city planning, mechanics and characters is just great, the action is unbelievably good and the plot is really really good. As a regular movie, it would be one of the best sci-fi i have seen, and i have seen a lot of them. The fact, that its anime makes it match better, allowing creative freedom and making all of the directors visions possible. 10 of 10 ad that is the minimum i could ever give this anime. if you have seen and liked Ghost in the shell then you will just love Appleseed. I have not read the manga and cannot comment on them, but i tell you, the movie is really worth watching.

Shawn Watson Appleseed simultaneously suffers from the worst Anime has to offer and benefits from the best animation and production a modern production can have. If you are a hardcore Manga fan (or just occasionally fond of it like me) you'll be aware of the most typical clichés, most of which make up the bulk of the Appleseed story.So...we have a world set after WWIII, in which a Utopian Society has finally found peace. But there are still some people who cannot help but let their anger and bigotry take hold. Android/Clones with suppressed emotions help balance out Utopia and some even want to be fully-fledged humans. There are humans who hate these Androids and wish them to all die out. And there are some Android who hate humans and wish them to all die out. And finally, there is a big computer who runs everything.Nothing there you haven't seen before huh? It also takes a while to build up momentum. Though when it does, the plot twists and turns and action scenes are truly exhilarating. The animation quality is breath-taking with seamless blending of hand-drawn, motion capture, CGI and 3D images. Style and plot-wise it is very, very similar to Sky Blue/Wonderful Days. But since they were in production at the same time one cannot accuse the other of plagiarism.The sheer amount of technology and hardware in the movie will make you drool. There are loads of cool devices, futuristic inventions and awesome weaponry. There is also loads of atmosphere with gorgeous, gorgeous sunsets, storm-lashed oil rigs and wonderfully blue-sky-ed cityscapes with an environmentally friendly amount of trees everywhere. The Matrix 'inspired' action can be a bit annoying sometimes. We've seen people diving through the air in slow motion will taking out supposedly highly-trained soldiers? And the music is kinda uninspiring. With contributions from Basement Jaxx and Paul Oakenfold one expected it to be a lot better.When you take the good with the bad, Appleseed still comes out as worthwhile and enjoyable. If your new to Anime then you can forgive the clichés, if your a big fan then you'll be awe-struck by the impressive production values.