This movie looks absolutely stunning, no doubt about it. The cg background works well, and the characters' somewhat artificial look fits in well. The chase scene at the beginning is incredibly beautiful with it's shattering statues and slow motion fighting. The story, however, is less impressive. I have never read the manga, but found it hard to believe that it comes from the same person who has created Ghost in the Shell, a story that is far more involving and clever than Appleseed 2004. With the exception of Hitomi, the emotional link between the Bioroids and humans, the characters are truly awful and uninvolving. The love story between Deunan, the main character, and Briareos, her love-interest who has become machine, is neat in theory, but wears thin quickly. He dies, then miraculously is alive again because the amour that he is has shut down before he dies. The reason why and how the dying man Briareos has been confined to this armour is never touched on, and any questions about existence and self are dropped. At the same time the Bioroids, beings who are supposedly without emotion, appear far more human than the main protagonists. This lack of characterisation and development is almost excused by the sheer beauty of the animation, but only almost. As the plot turned more and more into a standard action movie, i felt my attention slipping, until in the end i was so bored that I was almost glad that it was over. It's a shame, because the story has potential, and the animation is perfect. I can't help but think that a director like Mamoru Oshii would have made more out of it. Having said that, Appleseed 2004 looks so stunning that it deserves a watch, and I feel 6/10 is fully justified.
