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Vexille
Anime DVD Review
Vexille may be too complex a film to explain. And we suggest that you do some homework before watching it, as the issues it addresses are nothing short of mind-blowing. This is high-concept sci-fi action thriller that probes intriguing questions about the nature of what it is to be human, and stunningly, is incredibly critical of Japan, the current state of affairs, and makes (perhaps) an interesting anology about robotics, stem-cell research, how far we're willing to go to be immortal, and how humanity sows the seeds of its own destruction.
 In short, Vexille is everything that we got into anime for: a sci-fi film that is BETTER than any live-action film coming out of Hollywood, with a scope that will have fans hotly debating it for years, a production value second-to-none, with an amazingly good amount of action with stuff blowing up in all the right places.
But one of the most interesting points of the film is that Japan is treated as the villain, and it's up to an American agency (named SWORD), as a champion of freedom, to clean up the mess. This is a complete departure from most anime, where it's usually Japan saving the rest of the world.
 Instead, we are treated to the kind of fierce nationalism that heralds a fascist dictatorship as Japan has withdrawn from the U.N. and the world community in general after being castigated for illegal robotics research.
Japan as a nation instead has trampled down a reckless and dangerous path that may put the rest of the world in jeopardy (perhaps an allusion to Bush-like policies???), and developed a xenophobic fortress mentality and thus, for the last 10 years, the country has been sealed off by an electromagnetic field with the acronym RACE, and has been off-limits to all foreigners.
Now SWORD has instigated a secret mission to infiltrate Japan and find out what's been going on all this time. And boy, are they in for a shocker. The production team behind Appleseed once again has put their considerable talents into the fray to produce an anime-esque CGI, motion-capture extravaganza, where the visuals know no limits. This is a must-see film, if not just for the political insight, but for blow-your-mind action and art direction.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, July 2008
Below: Scenes from Vexille.
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