Thanks for the memories!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Did you people see the same film I saw?

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Hands down, 'Alpha' is the best interpretation for the original Manga to date.While many bemoan Alpha as being 'Westernised' or not Animé, the reality is that the 5 'book' Manga series (originally published in English by Marvel's offshoot, Studio Proteus, and then later by Dark Horse) was never overly Japanese in its styling and indeed, most of the central characters are not Japanese but rather from 'all over'.The 2004 Appleseed movie, with Studio IG on production, was quite successful at blending 3D and Animé. Using the crispness derived from 3D but keeping it to a stylised rendering style, it delivered a nicely balanced form of 3D Animé. Films like 'Ex Machina', and even the 'Appleseed XIII' mini series (which was a Studio IG production) failed (in my mind) by departing with this style and trying to create what could best be described as a realistic Animé, and ultimately not succeeding on any front - Ex machina not helped by the fact it was just a poor film all round.Where Alpha succeeds, is that it creates a realistic interpretation of Shirow's character and hardware design, in a way is so much closer to the Manga series than anything to date. Where the 2004 Appleseed was Animé at the next level, Alpha takes Appleseed out of the Animé realm and moves it to pseudo reality; the world depicted in the pages of the Manga have become real enough that you could walk outside and touch it.There is no doubt that the technical mastery of the CG space here gives the viewer moments where one has to really stop and ask themselves if what they are seeing is real or CG. Shirow himself said when talking about Alpha:"The challenge with CG production is that, as you get more photo-realistic, you lose the ability to use over-the-top anime-style expression without being unnatural. And if you go too anime, the realistic expression becomes out of place. Mr. Aramaki showed great skills for the previous films with anime style, but I was very excited to see the realistic textures with damages (the post-war environment visuals) and lighting effects. (My) first impression was, in a positive way, that it looked like today's state-of-the-art video games."Story wise, Alpha is an interesting interpretation of the first book of the series. Characters and events have been drawn out of the Manga and reassembled to form a new story. So if you know the Manga, there will be more than a few moments where you will recognise a scenario or character but realise they are not where they should be. Regardless, Alpha is entertaining enough, maybe more so if you are intimate with the Manga series, to provide an enjoyable experience.But it's not all trumps. Why is Deunan running around in combat armour/gear with her bust hanging out? Does Iris need to be in that skin suit? And the very sultry combat cyborg?? There is more than a slight smack of 'boyish' sexism going on here that, while on the surface seems harmless, really just reeks of the 'boys club' that's being talked about all over in regards to the movie industry. There was zero purpose to portray Deunan in the manner that has been done and in fact, I found it to a 'jolt', preventing me from being fully immersed into the movie. In this aspect, Alpha disappoints in a big way. What could have been really good was let down by some guys not getting away from their screens enough.Overall though Appleseed Alpha is worth watching once, twice, maybe even three times, something I could not say of Ex Machina.

Appleseed is one of my favourite anime series of all time. I think the magic of the series is the relationship of Deunan and Briareos, which is the main "glue" which holds the series together.This movie cements that with an early look at their pre-ESWAT days, (Especial Weapons & Tactics) for those not in the know.Unlike the first movie Appleseed and its follow-up Ex Machina, there are no glittering towers of beautiful buildings or people/bioroids living in a harmonious Utopia in the city of Olympus. This is a bombed to Hell urban landscape of mankind's own making and Deunan and Briareos do their best to exist in it while keeping sane and still in love with each other.The CGI is good, NOT great, but still very good at conveying this while the story, involving stopping a madman cyborg from kick starting another war is involving and action packed.It's also nice to hear David Matranga and Luci Christian continuing to do the voice acting for these two, I don't think Appleseed would be the same with these two talented voice actors.Our two heroes do their best and there are moments of real passion of dialogue in the movie, also some fun moments with witty banter while they take down battle droids out in the dust bowls of former cities reduced to dust.In summation, if your looking for a great intro to the Appleseed story, this is a good place to start, you'll see great action, good anime and a hint at the end of a follow-up movie which will no doubt continue their relationship when they reach Paradise (Olympus).

This film is very true to it's niche in that the story and characters are exactly as you ought to expect. There's absolutely nothing original or remarkable about the plot or characters when compared to anything similar. That's not really a criticism specific to this film but rather of the whole genre. What it has going for it is generally decent animation, there are some exceptions to that though, and a story that moves on at a nice pace. It's not just action and it's not just spaces between action scenes, there is an effort to tell the story properly. Whilst the plot and characters are standard fare the film manages to avoid feeling too formulaic which is a neat trick. The exceptions in the animation I mentioned revolve mainly around the mouths. It must be difficult to animate for several languages in this area and it shows. Other areas are ground vehicles are noticeably less well animated and given the male oriented genre and the fact the heroine's chest is on prominent display the whole movie her breasts are utterly rigid - perhaps she has an excellent bra! A strange omission or perhaps choice by the animators seeing as her hair is well animated. There are also a few interactions of the characters that are slightly perplexing and I can only suggest that such times work better when in other languages. They aren't enough to spoil matters but you do spot them. If you like the genre there's no reason you won't like this and if you don't you're probably not reading this anyway. I'd watch a sequel if made.

While the film is fairly entertaining, the story feels very much like a first episode of a series. The characters only go through minor development and the plot seems like a side-track of their lives, leading to the beginning of another journey rather than to an end in itself.The animation of tech, the cyborgs (e.g. Briareos) and landscape are top notch while facial expression of human characters could have used quite some more brushing up. Perhaps the studio should have decided to utilize motion capturing. What is especially annoying is the ever-flowing hair of the female lead Deunan. Where should all this wind come from? In small closed spaces it is most conspicuous but even in the open it seems strange to constantly have that much wind. It could be bearable if the motion of the flowing hair at least would not be so unnatural.