Appleseed

Variety Leslie Felperin

Craft connoisseurs won't be disappointed with the splendidly executed result. However, everyone else is likely to wonder what the fuss about given the plot's dated cyborgs-and-supercomputers hijinks.

The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis

The film has enough originality to interest demanding fans of the genre.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The stock characters and leaden stretches of expository dialogue are welcome evidence that there's still no computer program capable of telling a decent story.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Only real fans, however, will be willing to slog through the heaping helpings of incomprehensible exposition.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's lingering exploration of their sleek surfaces verges on roboporn.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

At this point, there's something almost masochistic about the way animators in Japan use cheesy ''Westernized'' heroes to fuel their fantasies.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Whatever is lost in translation can't keep Appleseed from feeling a decade late--and its animation from looking like a relic on arrival.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The characters are (hand-painted) so flat that the film looks like a paper-doll convention at Epcot.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

While there are some genuinely dazzling moments of visual bravura, the marriage of flatness and depth that Mr. Aramaki attempts doesn't quite work.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Dazzling visually but is flattened by corny dialogue better suited to the 1936 "Flash Gordon" serial, a needlessly hard to follow plot and heavy-handed exposition clotted with pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo.

LA Weekly David Chute

The film's snazzy new automated animation style falls short: The supposedly human face of our metal-plated robocop's partner -- the inevitable curvy female in a leather jump suit -- is an inexpressive, glossy doll mask, untouched by human hands.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Its busy, stiff, artificial graphics are a perfect match for its busy, stiff, artificial plot. A simple Shirow pinup parade might almost be preferable.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Much of the movie is dull, and as it has been dubbed into English, the blah-blah is impossible to ignore.

Empire Kim Newman

The characters might physically appear rounded, but are otherwise paper-thin.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Lackluster anime.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

The visuals are really the only compelling reason to see Appleseed.

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

Held back by a story and script that is often silly and confusing.