I've only seen this film in its raw, unsubtitled Japanese form, so I'm not much of an authority on the details of the plot, but it's obvious that plot isn't much of an issue here. Spriggan is an action movie and doesn't really pretend to be anything else (despite the sci-fi stuff that starts happening towards the end). The animation is beautiful and similar in style to Ghost in the Shell, and there are some character design similarities to Ninja Scroll (one of the villains is a huge, bald, heavily armed walking tank reminiscent of Ninja Scroll's big rock ninja). The most obvious influence, though, is from Akira; anybody who has seen Katsuhiro Otomo's genre-reworking masterpiece will instantly be reminded of it the moment the freaky little psychic kid is introduced.
I barely understood a word of the dialogue, but the action sequences are sheer pulsating excitement. A memorable battle takes place at a mountain research station at night during a snowstorm; the poetic setting becomes the backdrop for a festival of violence worthy of a John Woo movie. I particularly like the villains who appear prominently in this scene-- in addition to the big armored gun guy I've mentioned, there's a scary little weirdo who rips his victims to pieces with tiny little strands of piano wire. And because the film is animated, we never think about stunts or computers or any of that stuff that can be so distracting in live-action films. Though somewhat predictable and derivative of other movies, Spriggan's action sequences are very impressive.
Again, I can't really comment on the plot, but if it's as good as everything else in this film then we may have a new anime classic on our hands. See it on the big screen if you get the chance.
I barely understood a word of the dialogue, but the action sequences are sheer pulsating excitement. A memorable battle takes place at a mountain research station at night during a snowstorm; the poetic setting becomes the backdrop for a festival of violence worthy of a John Woo movie. I particularly like the villains who appear prominently in this scene-- in addition to the big armored gun guy I've mentioned, there's a scary little weirdo who rips his victims to pieces with tiny little strands of piano wire. And because the film is animated, we never think about stunts or computers or any of that stuff that can be so distracting in live-action films. Though somewhat predictable and derivative of other movies, Spriggan's action sequences are very impressive.
Again, I can't really comment on the plot, but if it's as good as everything else in this film then we may have a new anime classic on our hands. See it on the big screen if you get the chance.