appleseed (2004) – review

now that i’ve had the time to calm down… somewhat… i can discuss this film with a bit more accuracy.

first off, the plot isn’t good at all.  it isn’t bad, it’s just serviceable.  i suppose if you’re going to make a whole lot of 3d animation and display it for over an hour or so, then you sort-of need a reason
…
i don’t know why.  i don’t know why they were talking at all.  or why there was any sound.  i mean, the voicing was great, sound design fantastic… but i really didn’t care.  this film is all about the visuals.
i wouldn’t say the narration is weak, it’s just not really that innovative.  fairly standard storyline with the usual semi-twist if you don’t suspect it, a little emotion, a little betrayal, a sprinkling of love and happiness – drama, intrugue.  it plays out much like an episode of any given anime series out there.

graphics-wise though, it’s not all praises.  i guess the reason why i enjoyed it so much was becuase it’s just so much fun to watch.
the style of the film is very similar to wonderful days and innocence: ghost in the shell 2, where characters have a hand-drawn style, and environments are 3d renders and mattes.  i say hand-drawn style because in appleseed, they are rendered in 3d, but cell-shaded.  i suppose it gives them an interestingly unique look – not quite hand-drawn, not quite 3d, but i thought it worked quite well.  it’s a bit disorienting for the first ten minutes or so to see these almost video-game like figures move and interract in their environment, but the feeling begins to make sense.  characters are suitably unique in the anime sense in regards to their looks, but as for their movements and lip-sync’ing – they must have motion captured everything.  for that matter, they must have motion captured every piece of rubble and speck of dust that flies across the screen.  movement and physics dynamics in this film are fantastic.  of-course it doesn’t look exactly like real-life a la the montage in innocence, but it looks fantastic – sort-of like the animation quality of squaresoft/films cutscenes in the final fantasy series and spirits within film, but more dynamic.  ever so slightly more towards reality.  it doesn’t look as stiff as the work square has done in the past, which is why i’m lead to believe they mapped-out fully mo-capped scenes.  lip-sync’ing is dead-on, not much to say other than they didn’t just make the mouths move as with a lot of anime.  just as a note, i think many people find that lazy on the japanese animators’ behalf, but i think it’s more of a stylistic choice.  animating at 25 frames and accurately drawing lip movements have never been top priority in japanese animation.  once in a while they will do it, for whatever reason, but i never feel a lack if it isn’t prioritised.  it does feel special, however, if the extra effort is put in.  in any case, appleseed’s lip movements are brilliant.

so much of appleseed i think looks photo-referenced, if not directly taken from live-action photography.  i don’t care if it was, i don’t care if they did shoot footage and use it in the film – they’ve integrated everything so well it looks fantastic.  sometimes i thought it was possible that a similar system to a film ‘waking life’ was used, where live action footage was shot, full costume and make-up detail, sets and props, lighting and all, then digitised with some kind of cell-shading model in a render-farm.  great.  whatever it was it looks brilliant.  i’m sure when the dvd comes out it will all be explained – and i can’t wait to find out.

it’s a lot of fun, i think that’s the main thing i feel about it.  story was predictable, even had a cliche or two in it, but i didn’t care.  it’s beautiful and loud, colourful, vibrant – a whole lot of fun.  the soundtrack isn’t as austere as kenji kawaii’s works for ghost in the shell and innocence, but it isn’t meant to be.  i didn’t find appleseed a deep or spiritual film at all, and i don’t think it was intended to be.  the original was pretty much the same, loud, vibrant, colourful, and this transition into 3d hasn’t damaged it at all.  i haven’t read the manga as strange though it may seem, as much as i love anime and love it as my highest artistic form to appreciate, i’m not into manga at all.  so i can’t comment on whether or not it’s true to the manga, or at least a good enough variation to honour the manga fans, but i did enjoy the original anime, and the 2004 version is just as good if not better… no it’s better.  as i said in my previous entry – my head fell off.  there are just so many ‘phwoar!’ moments when you watch it.

are the graphics better than the big three, innocence, wonderful days and ff:spirits within?  not better.  appleseed may have elaborate 3d set-pieces, but none as complex as final fantasty.  character design and movement are fantastic, but not as detailed as the 3d in final fantasy, even though that isn’t the intention.  does it have physics modelling to compare with innocence?  probably not, but it certainly looks cool.  the textures in innocence i think also give a lot to it – the movement dynamics are assisted to look so real because the textures on the objects are very hi-res and ellaborate.  did it have the sets, props and character design to rival wonderful days?  i think so.  they’re fairly evenly matched.  if anything, i’d say the actual photography and visual presentation of wonderful days had more heart in it, while appleseed reflected the creators’ sense of fun.
defenitely though i will admit this film into my battery of outstanding technical achievements – the big three are now the big four – the benchmark by which all 3d animation is measured.  surprising too, because this was not a production i.g. project – it was produced by SORI, with cg by digital frontier.  all of this being said, it certainly is the least emotional of the four.

in comparison, the work from dreamworks and pixar just looks like old-fashioned stop-photography claymation.  commendable efforts, but pale in comparison to what the japanese are achieving.

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Commentary
April 24, 2010

Be kind – it was a long time ago.