Appleseed Alpha (2014)

'Appleseed Alpha' is the third installment in this Appleseed series, but to make things a little complicated, it's actually a prequel to the other two. In fact, it might even be considered a reboot, as many things that were established in the previous films are simply ignored in favour of a whole new story, where only the slightest of links are there. 

Feel confused yet? I know I do.

The Third World War is at an end and soldiers Briareos and Deunan are eking out a living in a ruined New York, often doing chores for a crimeboss called Two Horns. They want out, but on one of their little missions, they come across a soldier and a girl who clearly don't belong. These two are being hunted by Talos, head of Triton, a large corporation and subsidiary of Olympus. Olympus is this almost mythical place where society is attempting to rebuild in the best way possible. But also Two Horns is now after Briareos and Deunan for not completing their last assignment for him. It turns out that Talos wants to - wait for it - rule the world and in order to do that, he needs a prototype weapon that the girl called Iris was sent to destroy. Now Deunan and Briareos have to stay alive and rescue Iris in order to save the world from once again descending into madness (even though most places are still pretty postapocalyptic to start with).

The biggest change is the animation style. It is no longer stylized or close to hand drawn animation (even though it is digital), now they went for the more realistic CG that you can also find in for example the animated 'Final Fantasy'-films. It is a little bizarre at first, but you soon get used to it. This is probably the most grounded film in the series and also the one that is the most 'Americanized'. No more deep discussions or thoughts on what it is to be human or how the line between human and artificial can be blurred: this is a straight up action adventure. That is not necessarily a bad thing as this film works on most levels, but it is a far cry from the first. If this wasn't directed by Shinji Aramaki, this might as easily have been an all American production. It feels like one. 

The characters are still pretty much the same, but I must admit that Deunan feels a little less confident and Briareos is a bit more gruff. Talos is a clichéd bad guy and not really interesting. I mean, how many times can you think of a variation of 'disgruntled guy wants to take over the world'? And that might be the biggest problem with this one: the characters are a little flat, stale and predictable. But this is not one you are going to watch for the character development, but more for the action. This is a more adrenaline filled action film and it plays out just like that, nothing more, nothing less. 

'Appleseed Alpha' tries something different, but at times it feels very removed from the source material. This might easily be the simplest entry into the universe created by Masamune Shirow (by far), but if you are familiar with the material, this one feels the most 'commercialized'. It's a decent action film, but nothing more.