Name: Expelled from Paradise (2014)
IMDb: link to IMDb
Genres: Adventure, Animé, SciFi Country of Origin: Japan.
Cast: Wendee Lee as Angela Balzac, Steve Blum as Dingo Kajiwara, Johnny Yong Bosch as Frontier Setter.
Directed by: Seiji Mizushima. Written by: Gen Urobuchi.
The initial tableaux: This animated feature is set in the year 2400 AD. In the past, great destructive actions destroyed much of surface-based human civilization. Since then, humanity has rebuilt itself as digital entities that exist on server networks that are located in orbit around Earth. This cyber universe is called DEVA.
There is an unexpected hack into the computers of DEVA. The hack is instigated by a surfaced based person, 'Frontier Setter.' Third Security Officer Angela Balzac is sent to the surface to deal with the problem. She is sent in a material body supported by a powered exoskeleton with high speed computer links to DEVO in orbit. Computers monitor her health and keep her in good shape. Her ground contact is Dingo.
Dingo and Angela take an immediate dislike of one another. To compound this, huge sandworms attack early on, and the communications link Angela depends on for health and information retrieval is broken. What to do? Complete the mission.
Delineation of conflicts: The hacker has secrets that they wish to keep secret. Angela and Dingo are tasked with ferreting this out, and correcting the situation. This is trickier with Angela's links cut. Once Dingo and Angela find the hacker, everything changes, and the pair have new challenges to deal with.
Resolution: Perhaps the next in human evolution was not a step forward.
One line summary: Battle for humanity's survival in 2400 AD.
Statistics:
a. Art: 7/10 As low polygon art goes, this is pretty good.
b. Sound: 6/10 Some of the voice work sounded hollow. The music was variable: much of it was simplistic (not a compliment), electronic, and uninteresting.
c. Voice Acting: 7/10 The three principal voice actors were fine, with Steve Blum the best.
d. Screenplay: 5/10 The discussions of the 'next step' in human evolution were deeper than usual, which I liked. Toward the end, though, the film degenerated into substandard music, lots of explosions, improbably outcomes, and hurried art. At that point, it looked way too much like Gundam action.
Final rating: 6/10
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