Dir. Shinji Aramaki, Japan, 2004, 105 mins
Cast (voices): Jennifer Proud, James Lyon
Appleseed is a curious combination of hi-tech video game (complete with a Lara Croft style action heroine), childhood tea-time anime from an era when we didn’t even know it was called anime, and cutesy hanna-barbera, set to a thumping rock score and riddled with guns and car chases. It tries so damn hard to be supercool.
Adapted from Masume Shirow’s 80s manga, we find ourselves very graphically in the middle of a post-apocalyptic dystopian AD 2131, where the super sexy Deunan is a guerilla fighter, taking on the colossal muscular might of the fearsome man machines. Director Aramaki is a games designer and it’s never more apparent than in these opening scenes which, whilst allowing the viewer to enjoy the illusion that they are actually a part of this high octave action, paradoxically seems to undermine our immersion into the world of the film. However, the scenes do provide a thrilling opening before we discover that the war Deunan has been fighting has, in fact, ended – just nobody bothered to tell her. Until now.
Swept up by a SWAT-style team, she is taken to the Utopian city of Olympus, where half the population comprises of Bioroids, semi-human cyborgs who have been genetically engineered to promote peace and balance and who have had their emotions and reproductive systems suppressed. Here the human – one would argue schmaltz – factor kicks in when we discover than one of these bioroids is Deunan’s former lover, Commander Briareas. Reunited, the moments of soul-searching soon have to take a back seat when, following an attack by anti-bioroid terrorists, Olympus’ Bioroid prime minister decides to implement the Appleseed Programme which will allow the cyborgs to become a race in their own right.
Dubbed into English, it is perhaps the dialogue which most lets the film down, which is sad as had Aramaki kept it a lot tighter and less convoluted, the themes, pace and technology could have been sufficient to make Appleseed a high calibre addition to the genres of both anime and sci-fi. All the ingredients are there but someone was a little too heavy-handed with the sugar. Who, exactly, is this film for? There is a sense that Aramaki has tried to please everyone but, alas, one wonders if he has ended up pleasing none. There IS something for everyone in this film, but a little more focus and clearly identified target audience would have lead to this standing the test of time and being embraced by a clearly-defined group of film lovers.
However, from an artistic viewpoint, Appleseed is worthy of merit. Traditional cell-animated 2D figures are dropped into a very credible 3D background and, whilst occasionally the juxtaposition is a little jarring, there is much to be admired and enjoyed. Aramaki has thrown it all into his animated melting pot and it almost, just almost works. I await his next film with interest.
Jean Lynch
Appleseed is released on region 2 DVD on 14th November by Manga
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