Appleseed

Far off in the future, in an era dominated by hulking cyborgs and genetically spliced human clones (the preferred term is “bioroids”), mankind’s suicidal attraction to war has transformed Earth into a decaying metropolis of crumbling buildings and scarred landscape. The beautiful Deunen Knute is in the thick of it; an attractive woman yet also a deadly soldier, her reputation as a precious fighter precedes her.

Amidst the endless destruction, the utopian city of Olympia shines bright as the last hope for humanity- a new society that prides itself on a vision of peace, its population is balanced half and half between humans and the benevolent bioroids.
To help prevent the errors of past governments, Olympia is ultimately controlled by Gaia, a super computer that has the final say on everything within the city. Gaia is not effected by desire, racism or greed, and hence, it is theoretically the perfect dictator; a system that has the best intentions for mankind “at heart”.

However, all is not well in Olympia; there is a power struggle at the heart of the city that threatens to tear apart this nu-paradise. Olympia’s military is under human control and their paranoia of bioroids becoming the dominant race on Earth is fuelling a furious hunt for the secret behind the mysterious “Appleseed” project. To this desperate end, both the human military and the Bioroid SWAT team are searching out Deunan, who is still out beyond the walls of Olympia fighting a world war that long since lost any purpose.

Welcome to the dystopian imagination of Masamune “Ghost in the Shell” Shirow, a cyber punk universe where mankind is capable of achieving technological marvels yet is still blighted with the basic desires of our genetic make-up, the thirst for violence.

At the heart of Shirow’s technique lies an obvious contradiction; his story criticises humanity’s desire for confrontation, yet even he takes a great pleasure in designing such beautiful yet devastating giants of the future. Appleseed suggests that within mankind there will always lay that primal attraction to conflict, a morbid fascination that could eventually mean the end for us all, but we are not beyond hope. It is a warning that relinquishing control of our society is akin to suicide.

Many viewers will undoubtedly be attracted to Appleseed for its expensive CG visuals. From the angular, modern skyscrapers of Olympia to the dark, decaying rubble that surrounds it; the vivid landscapes of Appleseed are a sumptuous meal for any self respecting fans of science fiction. But as is becoming more obvious as the years of failed experiments add up, computer graphics have still yet to capture realistic human mannerisms and unfortunately, Appleseed is no exception. The anime-style character designs are at complete odds with the hyper realistic background art – with facial expressions being a particularly big problem; subtlety is thrown out of the window as emotion is contorted on character faces as a little girl would her favourite rag-doll. It’s a movie full of lifeless puppets.

But then I doubt anyone really expects true refinement from Appleseed anyway, after all, this is an action movie and true to form, it delivers some imaginative and memorable action scenes.

In Summary

All the requisite elements are in place for an enjoyable romp through some 80s-influenced technological paranoia, with even acrobatic slow-mos, pumped up dance tunes and cringe inducing melodramatics included as a modern bonus. As long as you don’t expect complex character motivations or compelling drama, there is a lot of fun to be had here; Shirow’s arachnid-like mechanical innovations are outstanding and only improve as the movie jumps to the next audacious spectacle. The stunning climax, which features a terrifying horde of gigantic moving fortresses marching on a neon lit Olympus, is a cinematic gem to behold and marks the movie’s status as one of the most visually pleasing pieces of animation to have been produced in recent years.