stories from the middle earth press room

that's appleseed: ex machina. it's far better than the appleseed released in 2004 but it's not as gripping as ghost in the shell (*i wub GITS!*) -- any of the ghost in the shell movies or series in general.

here's the gist. i'll just grab something from the internet since i'm not in a mood to tell the story.

"The utopian city of Olympus is under attack by high-minded terrorists bent on controlling the will of the world's population - be they human, cyborg or the artificially-created Bioroids - and it's up to spunky ES.W.A.T. enforcer Deunan Knute, her impossibly skilled cyborg partner (and lover) Briareos, to bring them down. Added to the mix is a brand new Bioroid model named Tereus, created from Briareos' DNA, who finds himself developing feelings for Deunan..." -- from animenewsnetwork

Other Half told me that ex machina is already available locally so we went to astrovision at the podium yesterday to grab an original DVD copy. yes, i was that impatient to watch it (not waiting for a bootleg copy of it) since i know that the appleseed manga author is the same one who created ghost in the shell.

but i had apprehensions about the movie since they had john woo as the producer. i suddenly had visions of deuna (the lead protagonist) doing major-motoko-kusanage-moves in slow motion (think matrix's trinity falling from a building firing two guns at the same time). with falling bullet cases to boot. in slow mo.

cheekily john woo.

i was right.

in the first scene in the cathedral, there were so many john woo signature moves and camera shots/angles that it seems like the director, shinji aramaki, was not left with no other choice. ok, i correct myself. aramaki's signature moves and john woo's were the same (and you'll see that in the 2004 appleseed movie): back-to-back (as in they literally had their backs on each other) gun fighting, deuna flipping a la cartwheels while shooting enemies with both hands using machine guns, etc. woo and aramaki should marry each other.

the whole movie i was like "oooh, i already saw this in face off" or "ah, i've seen this before. where was it? (probably broken arrow)".

don't get me wrong. i love the action scenes. but there was too much john woo in it that it gets so tiresome. like i've seen all these things before...the big explosion at the background while the characters jump for their lives in slo mo -- like they're flying or something -- to grab the door of a futuristic helicopter ready to depart a sinking floating laboratory of some mad scientist.

really.

as for the storyline, it's simple enough for neanderthals to understand. no mind games like ghost in the shell: innocence.

as animenewsnetwork said:

"Ex Machina feels a bit more like an American action movie, with a simple plot that zips right along from action sequence to action sequence, stopping occasionally for brief expository conversations between the principal characters..."

and that's the most beautiful part for non-cerebral people. they don't have to think hard to follow the story. nor the contrived love triangle.

i was quite taken with the art (CGI that doesn't feel like CGI) on hindsight the CGI still isn't at par with umm...ratatouille. i like the action sequences but that's just it. i was expecting something more from a shirow masamune creation.

i was left hanging. like i was shortchanged. i want to have my P500 P250 back (Other Half and I split the cost). maybe the problem with me was i was looking for ghost in the shell or full metal alchemist-type of japanese animation.

i wanted to scream, "you don't need john woo! you don't need hollywood for any stamp of quality!" but hey, it's a business. they have to penetrate the US market. maybe that's the reason why they stayed away from GITS because that kind of cerebral movie is not attractive to the land of simpletons.

the movie is very pretty. if you wanna watch it for its visuals, you'll not be disappointed. this movie has not taken the standard a notch higher when it comes to animation but otherwise great CGI. good mecha. (yo! mecha fans out there!). and please don't watch it in english dubs, there are baduy lines there (as usual in english dubs). opt for the original japanese dubs. as the critics said, japanese dubbing is an art form. just in the case of get backers.

but if you want something more, better wait for a live action GITS. with kate beckinsale in it. haha, just joking.

seriously though, this is not the type of movie you'll talk about after viewing it. except for the art.