The first thing that hits you about this movie is it’s breathtaking visuals and sounds that puts you in the right atmosphere from the very beginning. I’m not sure words can even describe it so I’ll just let the trailer and photos speak for themselves for now. (The review continues below the pictures.)

Looks refreshing doesn’t it

Even the rocket smoke has a shadow, nice!

Photorealistic visuals throughout the movie.

Beautiful sunrise. I wish I was there.

What is this movie about you say? It’s a 3 part movie going through various stages of life including love, dreams, hope, youth, overcoming obstacles, reality, growing up. That pretty much sums it up I think. All done in a very realistic and honest way, not some cheesy Hollywood stunt that we’ve seen far too many of. It also has a message I’m leaving for you to figure out for yourself :)

If to nitpick on something I have to say that the only thing causing me from not giving this movie a solid 6 out of 6 is that the character details doesn’t match the ones of the environment. I can totally understand it due to the animation process I surely do, however that would have been the little extra extra for me. One other small thing is the abrupt ending. It’s not a bad ending at all without revealing anything. It just happen so fast I didn’t see it coming. It was just… stop.

I have to get a hold of a Blu-ray copy of this movie some day and see the full potential it holds ;)

A highly recommended quick watch!
(Runtime 63 min)

Rating 5 Centimeters Per Second: 5/6
Written and directed by: Makoto Shinkai

I’ve had high expectations for this one ever since I heard they where making this sequal. Ex Machina is the follow up of Appleseed that got a total makeover back in 2004. You’re following Deunan and Briareos, two members of ES.W.A.T, an elite force with world wide jurisdiction based in a city called Olympus as they face a new challenge. The year is 2138, the world as we know it has ceased to excist. Cyborgs and bioroids is everyday life and with more advanced technology things are a lot easier in many ways. However it also means the world is more vulnerable to sophisticated terrorist attacks.

In many ways this movie is a work of art. The animation, camera work, effects and visuals in general is absolutely beautiful to watch. Producer John Woo was brought in to help bringing Japanese animation to a broader marked in the west. In my opinion this was partly a misstake. The movie is full of typical John Woo trademarks that hasn’t really been renewed. I think they would have been better of trusting themselfs and instead just let them be inspired by his work. My suggestion if they want to extend their fan base in the west would be to do exactly what they always have done except maybe to stay more in the 3D world as oposite to 2D, (I’m a big fan of both worlds by the way). Japanese animation is fantastic, and I want that to continue.

Storywise the movie it’s not half bad either, however if found myself from time to time forgetting what the story was all about. I’m unsure if this is done by the story it self not being as good as it could be, or if some of the down paced moment dragged out too much. A side note here that should be mentioned is that the subtitles is the worse crap I’ve ever seen. 2-3 seconds out of sync, misstranslated in parts and starting with the name of the character who was talking! This didn’t make things easy. I could have seen it with English dubbing, but since I’ve yet to see a well done dub I prefer the original work. (Better lip sync etc.)

I guess my conclusion is this: If you don’t mind English dubbing, know Japanese, like John Woo or just want to see some beautiful eyecandy, you will probably enjoy this movie and rank it above average. I hope to find that there is a better subtitled version out there (another DVD zone) for me to watch that will change my first impression for the better.

Rating Appleseed Ex Machina:
3/6