VEXILLE - Quick impressions

[+] Excellent "painterly" CGI animation. Vexille eschews the
psuedorealism of Beowulf and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within for
strudy, hand-drawn textures. Character animation is taut and subtle.
The effect is far beyond the choppy, floaty, bright models used in
2004's Appleseed flick.

[+] Subtle character animation. Body movements are crisp, with few
excessive mannerisms. None of the goofy slapstick and "gun fu" that
infested Appleseed: Ex Machina.

[+] The first half is a tight, deliberately paced techno-thriller.
Terse, cold, efficient dialogue sets the tone perfectly.

[+] The English dub is superb in its own right. It never breaks the
tension or kills the drama.

[+] Deliberate pace, with superb editing, draws you into the world.
Even the action scenes don't overwhelm you to maintain your interest.
Director SATO displays confident, visual storytelling with minimal
dialogue, no fanservice. Imagine the Ghost in the Shell TV show
without the baby Tachikomas, static dialgoue scenes and lame one-
liners.

[-] "Ah, the irony of fate". Bah, the ubiquity of thespian
antagonists. And they stick out like sore thumbs, since the good guys
are such professional popsicles.

[-] The story stops in Act 2 to explain the history of the "virus".
In other words, the unsettling sense of discovery that sustained the
first half of the film is wiped away.

[-] Production design is rather laid-back. Rather than overwhelming
you (like Taro Rin's Metropolis), SATO seems content for simple,
efficient shots that aren't too busy. It make the action scenes more
coherent, but it makes static scenes less visually interesting. Maybe
the next film will be feature less conventional production design.

[-] Minimal character development. Very minimal. I was willing to go
with the short flashbacks and terse character exchanges in the first
half of the film, but no relationships ever really develop.

[-] Vexille is NOT better than Ratatouille (Phillip Yff! :-) )

On the whole, [B-], just below Paprika, but above Appleseed 2004 and
way above Appleseed: Ex Machina. I want TARO-san to direct at least
two more films, with better scripts, cuz the dude's got potentional.
It's always great to see dramatic anime storytelling that doesn't
devolve into exposition and excess to tell its stories.

Ratatouille [B+] :-)
Paprika [B]
Appleseed 2004 [B-]
Appleseed: Ex Machina [C]

Terrence Briggs, reading a lot of hate in the other Vexille reviews.
Save it for more deserving pap, dudes.

Peace to you...
Peace to you...