The 2004
i Appleseed
i0 feature is a reworking of the earlier video based on the manga by Masamune Shirow (
i Ghost in the Shell
i0 ). In 2131, most of humanity has withdrawn to the glittering city of Olympus after a devastating war. When the curvaceous Deunan Knute comes to Olympus, she encounters her former comrade Briareos, now a cyborg, and the lovely android Hitomi. The fate of Hitomi, Olympus, and humanity rest on the lost "Appleseed" technology that Deunan's mother helped to develop. A standard series of chases,
i mecha battles
i0 , and confrontations leads to a predictable ending. When the original
i Appleseed
i0 appeared in 1988, it felt like a summary of anime's past, while
i Akira
i0 pointed the way to the future. This new version feels like a mishmash of
i Ghost in the Shell
i0 ,
i Akira
i0 ,
i Jin-Roh
i0 ,
i Evangelion
i0 , and other, more exciting works. The motion-capture CG is typically weightless, and the
i mecha
i0 look oddly squat. (Rated R: violence)
i --Charles Solomon