I guess I went into this movie with my hopes too high.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong about the work that went into this technically, and in that regard the movie is fairly solid. The CGI is a bit too crisp and a bit too clean and a bit too reminiscent of "Appleseed: Ex Machina," but it's well done. The visual details are well done. It looks pretty, but that's a problem, because even the ghetto Tokyo has turned into is pretty to an extent. Technically, this movie is well done, and that's why I haven't marked it lower.<br /><br />But a technically good movie doesn't make it one worth watching. Think about it: any Michael Bay movie, or something like Miller's "The Spirit," or even "Titanic" may be technically good and sound, but does that make it worth watching? My opinion is "No, it doesn't."<br /><br />But there's no spirit here and even in some of the most lame and tame anime, there is at least one character with something that will draw a viewer in. There's nothing in the characters that makes me want to carry on with their stories, and the least of them is the title character, Vexille Serra. Honestly, it feels like this is supposed to be part of the universe "Appleseed" exists in because I get the expectation that we're supposed to already know who Vexille and Leon are (especially since it comes across much like Deunan and Briareos), so I seriously wonder if this was a retrofitted story that was rejected for the "Appleseed" series. I mean, shouldn't there have been something that made me feel sorry for Takashi when he died? Granted, this is science fiction, but that can't be an excuse for an empty feeling after watching it. Isn't dramatic tension and character development and the need to engage the viewer still a necessity for a successful story?<br /><br />Could I forgive the lack of character development if it was a decent action movie? Maybe. But it's not a decent action movie. The choreography is bland and the chase sequences are predictable. Who didn't know that Maria and Vexille would be the only ones to make it to the island? Who didn't know that Takashi was doomed from the start? Who didn't see Leon and Maria's past coming a mile away? I guess if you're relatively unaware of the conventions this movie is heavily using that these things might be a surprise... but it amazes me that anyone would be surprised by anything that happened in the movie.<br /><br />I also have to say I was greatly disappointed with the Jags. They are such an atrocious visual rip-off of Frank Herbert's sandworms in "Dune" that I was great disappointed as soon as I saw them. The creators should be ashamed of themselves for so blatantly stealing an idea from such a well known story.<br /><br />With no character development, especially with Vexille herself, I think this movie fails on many, many levels, which is too bad. This could have been a decent movie that might have created a decent franchise... but I'm really hoping for a "one and done" on this.