Vexille (2007)

In the fairly near future, Japan is completely cordoned off from the rest of the world, even to the point that satellites cannot see what is going on there. That situation has lasted for ten years.

The reason?

Japan was developing android technology and this was feared to be a threat to humankind as a whole.

A bit strange then that the rest of the world relies heavily on machinery and robotics developed by one single Japanese company called Daiwa. You'd think that they wouldn't allow this either. But hey, that is just one of the plotholes in this film.

A team is sent in to try and shed light on the situation, because it turns out that there are in fact forbidden androids. As soon as the team sets foot in Japan, they are attacked and Vexille (our main character) is separated from the rest. She is taken in by Maria in what appears to be a giant slum surrounded by enormous walls. Turns out this is what remains of Tokyo and this is also the only location in Japan that isn't a ruinous wasteland. Even more strangely: no single human survives in Japan. Daiwa orchestrated a viral outbreak and subsequent inoculation. The inoculation turned everyone into biometal (androids) without their knowing and more often than not, they go berserk.

Not the most uplifting story, is it?

I don't have any problems with depressing stories, they can often work. My main problem with 'Vexille' is that as a whole, the film is quite boring. It has a few action scenes, yes, but they don't work for me. The story is heavy and the twist that Japan is devoid of human life is a good idea, but they do so little with it. Vexille lands in Japan, discovers this fact and it's straight on to the revenge mission against Daiwa's factory. That's it. And the film takes almost a whopping two hours to get to this point. You'll have endured a lot of dialogue that is pretty mundane. Maria is the cool, reserved character bent on revenge, Vexille is constantly flabbergasted and the evil mastermind is... well... evil.

The soundtrack is also all over the place, and more often than not, the musical accompaniment makes no sense. Sure, it's boasted that Paul Oakenfold is responsible for the soundtrack, but if he is, he either didn't do it with gusto, or soundtracks just aren't his forté.

What is impressive, is the clear art direction of this film. I'm not talking about the colours, they are a drab blueish and a drab brownish. I'm talking about the animation-style. It is clearly CG, but made to look hand-drawn. This is a cool choice and makes it all look distinct. Too bad the story and pacing lack so much.

In the end, 'Vexille' isn't very remarkable and I only recommend it for diehard anime hounds that want to digest everything there is. For more casual viewers, you can easily pass this up for more gripping films.