Movies: Vexille

In my "Dead Space" review, I implied that when you're making a creative work, some amount of cribbing from other sources is necessary, or even desirable. But there's a line you mustn't cross, and "Vexille" stumbles all over that line:



There's the standard anime clichés: power armor suits, deadly robots, and the main character is a member of some elite tactical strike team. But "Vexille," directed by Fumihiko Sori, also steals bits from dozens of other movies. You'll see giant metal sandworms a la "Dune," human-like androids ripped straight from "Blade Runner," and even a post-apocalptyic wasteland that would make "Mad Max" proud.

Again, if it were all executed cleanly, it would be a fun movie. But despite the interesting use of cel-shading on the characters, the CGI here is flat and unimaginative in many sequences. A lot of the story elements are ridiculous, and the characters are completely forgettable and disposable.

Rating: 3/10