Appleseed product reviews

NZ Rating M - Runtime 105 min
(Note: this film is definitely not intended for very young viewers. It includes some fairly graphic violence in some scenes.)

The elders are in debate with Gaia. The question is... Are humans worthy of saving? Or have they finally proven they should be phased out of existence in favour of bioroids - clones engineered with balanced emotions and superior material construction?

This story is set in Olympus, a city designed to be a Utopia. With half the population being emotionally stable, reproductively sterile bioroids, a balance has been introduced to mitigate the violent tendencies of humans. Bioroids are in control of government and humans in control of the military.

Deunan Knute, an elite soldier, has spent her last few years out in the devastated areas fighting pointless battles with cyborgs oblivious to the existence of Olympus. Finally Deunan is located by the government E.S.W.A.T. forces and brought to Olympus. There she is re-united with her boyfriend Briareos - whom she is shocked to discover is now mostly cyborg, having been reconstructed after almost dying in a battle.

In spite of all efforts, mistrust and conflict has been increasing between rogue human extremists and the bioroid government. Deunan holds a vital key in the form of a piece of code known as the Appleseed. But she has never heard of the Appleseed...or has she? Has her memory simply been repressed?

So, the race is on to find the Appleseed. Who will find it first? Government forces, under bioroid Prime Minister Athena? Or rogue military forces under General Uranus? But more is going on than meets the eye, and the outcome is far from certain...

Appleseed is a truly stunning and action-packed 3D anime feature film! A spectacle of eye-candy with great 3D modeling, realistic character movements based on motion capture, and character appearance rendered in an interesting 'squeaky clean' toon shading style.

Although some anime purists might frown at the slightly unconventional introduction of 3D in a traditionally 2D animation form, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. There is a solid story with a good twist.