Piggybacking off Kabitzin’s promotion of the latest Appleseed movie, I thought I’d throw in my two cents on another movie in a similar vein, Vexille. Like Appleseed, it’s a cell-shaded CG movie centered around many of Masamune Shirow’s sci-fi themes. However, it has much grimmer and down-to-earth overtones instead of the over-the-top comic book feel of Appleseed. For instance, at no point does Vexille take out an entire warehouse of enemies through the sheer awesomeness of gun-kata. There are also long stretches where absolutely nothing blows up. This in itself may deter some viewers, but I’m sure a few stalwarts out there are willing to overlook such a travesty. The scenario was intriguing and had a lot of potential; at one point the writers could have gone in a lot of possible directions with the story, but ultimately settled on something that was most suitable for the movie’s length. At the very least, I’m glad that the plot wasn’t *entirely* just a big excuse to showcase some mech battles (although there is a bit of that).
The character models were a bit stiff at times - nowhere near Advent Children quality - but the CG really shined in the tense action sequences. Also, it helps that I’m total sucker for sci-fi works, even if they are extremely derivative mishmashes of other classics. The movie definitely needed more character development though; fifty gazillion airbrushed closeups of Vexille just wasn’t getting the job done.
While it won’t be winning any awards, I found myself liking the movie more than I expected. All in all, an enjoyable self-contained ride - hereby dubbed as “Appleseed’s brooding cousin”.
3 Comments
I saw Vexille, the robot and exosuit designs are very feasible, at least until the 2nd half, but the film plays fast and loose with the laws of physics in many places, with too many implausible, random plot elements towards the end-with a depressing ending.
I see it as a good tech demo (materials, debris, snow, smoke, water), but not really good enough for a complete film.
I’ve seen the new Appleseed and Vexille and liked Vexille alot more, though the end scene seemed like it was ripped right out of the end of almost every Res Evil game
Overall I prefer Appleseed more but as a blockbuster-style sci-fi movie that provides undemanding shiny CG entertainment, Vexille’s well worth checking out. There were a few plot holes and inconsistencies which I won’t spell out for fear of spoilers but I still enjoyed it. I’m not sure if it’s a Shirow-derived piece or not but it looks, sounds and feels like one, and that’s what’s important.