To summarize my thoughts in one phrase I'd say that this is unfortunately one of those production that just fall short of achieving greatness.It has most of the essential elements right ; The main storyline is original and interesting enough, artistically speaking its on par with what is to be expected of any big animation studio at the time and furthermore it has just enough action throughout not to be dull.For me, its biggest flaw has to do with characters development ; Motivations of each protagonist while made obvious are SO one-dimensional it give no chance to the viewer to get drawn-in to the storyline.Since the whole theme of the movie is about 'humanity' and what it represent to be human, one would say this make the ending sequence appear especially hollow.It would have been interesting to emphasize on the love,hate hopes & fears of the doomed Japanese denizen (as well as of those of Mariah's crew members) instead of merely presenting them as background elements ready for the proverbial 'Grinder'.This is especially aggravating with the main 'villain' whose dialogs & motivations are so 'cliche' they made me cringe.Had they for instance removed the whole first part set in 'Japamerica' and merely had Serra's team wiped out upon attempting infiltration (oh please kill Leon already!) and instead had her stranded far from home grieving for her friends and surrounded by 'enemies' who later became people who then became friends, then you might have had a good emotional setting for what came next.In short, an above average production, pretty to look at all the while being mostly forgettable ; No reasons to get out of your way to get it, yet with enough good content that you should at least see it.

i have to say,this is one original movie.at least i haven' seen anything like it.the GC animation is stunning,very detailed and clear.the action sequences are first rate.the dialogue was good as well.there aren't too many dead spots in this particular production.and i thought the voice casting was superb,particularly for the characters of Vexille and Marie.the general storyline is original,though it may incorporate elements from other films into it.ti's basically science fiction tale that takes place in the next fifty plus tears or so.it's one interesting what if scenario.but one of the neatest thing about this particular movie are the characters and concepts they came up with.for me Vexille is an 8/10

**SPOILERS** I bought this movie on DVD expecting to get me through a boring night or at least give me cheap laugh at it's pitiful attempt to 'be'/'beat' Appleseed.20 Minutes into the movie. I was hooked, shocked and more importantly - GLAD I bought the film! What's so good about Vexille that it (in my opinion) tops Appleseed? It's everything as a whole! First off, the storyline.Its set in Japan in the near future.Although many say it's too weak, not interesting enough and rather linear. They fail to realise the brilliance of the story! Instead of the typical and overused human's creating robot like humans Vexille does something which is the exact opposite! It focuses on a crazy Company called 'Daiwa' which develop a virus that slowly mutates/transforms the human DNA into metal! Then they get the government to unleash an illness that requires the whole Japanese population to be vaccined. (Really, the vacination is the mutation virus). Slowly the body turns into metal then finally, the virus attacks the brain causing the brain to be taken over by the virus and then controlled, so that Daiwa can control the humanoid's! That's the jist of what has happened in Japan. I've spoiled some parts of the story, but left out what actually takes place IN the film.Now the story does have some weak points like not explaining WHY the Daiwa company are wanting to turn human's into humanoids (of course they want to take over the world, but WHY exactly?!?). And HOW exactly the government got involved in this... But that should all be explained in the next movie which will probably be a Prequel.The CGI/2D Shaded graphics design is nothing new, it's used in Appleseed. The design of the characters are much like Appleseed too, but what really makes it unique are the robots and the 'jags'! I've watched a lot of anime's and Japanese movies and let me tell you. The Jags are probably the most unique robot/enemy I have ever seen! They are the main reason why this movie differs enough from Appleseed.Again, the only problem is, we are told WHAT the Jag's are doing in Japan, but we aren't told HOW exactly they are built and etc. Another problem I hope the second movie deals wth.The movie is filled with a mix of action, drama and tension to keep you interested and not bored.Overall, Vexille is a good compact eye catching movie that will hook any anime/robot lover from start to finish.Give it a solid 8.5/10.

Anime and I don't agree. I tend to be driven away from seeing any by the sheer number of idiotic fans that the genre seems to draw. Countless of teenage boys and girls with identity issues flock to anime movies and conventions like flies to dung salads. And often they find it necessary to dress up like their favourite Japanimation character and get on my nerves.My date suggested that we go to this. Many of the better things I could be doing came to mind, but being the wimpy unmanly pushover I am, I agreed.When the movie started, I was mildly impressed at a slightly unusual art style which only rarely pandered to the anime clichés that we all know and hold in great contempt. There is one particular chase scene in this movie which I found to be particularly enthralling and for the most part the movie did hold my attention.However, my main gripe is that the characters are very cookie cutter. They're about as deep and well thought out as your average fanfiction writer's self insertion character. The plot was great, the style was great, the characters were stinky.While it was only an average fair as a movie, it was better than I was expecting and worthwhile. Worthwhile as long as you can stand screaming idiots who believe they speak Japanese better than Emperor Hirohito.