I'm not exactly sure how the first Appleseed movie back in 2004 fared in Japan, but it didn't do so well with critics here. I have to admit I agree with some of their assessments. So I sure hope they've got a decent story lined up for Ex Machina and better pacing.
It's being directed by Shinji Aramaki of Bubblegum Crisis fame, and being produced by John Woo. Woo will have some creative input, notably on some action sequences. Surprise surprise. At the very least, it should be a good actioner.
Background
Appleseed takes place in the year 2131, after the Third World War has devastated the world. Amidst the turmoil, Deunan Knute and her (now cyborg) partner, Briareos find themselves in the utopian city of Olympus which is inhabited by a genetically engineered human race called Bioroids. They settle in and become members of the elite paramilitary E.S.W.A.T. unit.
Olympus seems like a paradise. But beneath the facade, pro-Human and pro-Bioroid factions are warring and political machinations by secretive third parties, both from within and without Olympus, threaten to unravel everything.
Some believe the Bioroids are the next phase in evolution, others believe they are a threat that will supplant Humanity. At the heart of the turmoil is The Appleseed: Information which could extend the Bioroid lifespan and information which may share a connection to Deunan herself!
It's short and doesn't reveal much, but here's the teaser anyway…
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I’m still hopeful. The first one was pretty wooden in character animation. Action sequences were still pretty good but didn’t save the movie from the other stuff.
I think they tried too hard to hold onto some of the more complex plot elements of the original Appleseed manga and that required them to explain quite a few things to the audience so they could understand what was going on. The result was too many dialogue-laden scenes tied up with explaining the back-story instead of actually moving the story forward.
I usually have a negative opinion about dumbing a story down, but sometimes it’s a necessary in order to produce a more cohesive, well-paced movie.
I’m hoping for better character animation. I think the elements of highly stylized cel shaded characters using motion-captured animation set against realistic backgrounds tended to work against each other, producing a more jarring visual experience.
If you want to see a good application of cel shaded CG, check out the new OVA series from Katsuhiro Otomo called Freedom.
I was very impressed at now only how successfully they translated Otomo’s visual style in 3D CG, but also how well the whole visual design fit together despite the different visual techniques used.
Unlike the characters in Appleseed, the characters in Freedom are more expressive and feel more alive and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they were animated manually without motion capture. They avoided the whole Uncanny Valley issue with regards to motion.