Your Corps, My Corps, Machine Corps!

At the top of the world, an ancient artifact known as NOAH'S ARK has been uncovered. Buried and forgotten since before the birth of history, it holds the potential to elevate its holder to the status of a god...or to wipe mankind form the face of the Earth in a second!

Now a desperate battle erupts across the planet as two secret organizations race to recover the lost artifact; one seeks to destroy it, the other to enslave the human race! Monstrous half-human cyborgs face off against Earth's ultimate defenders, the secret organization known as ARCAM and their elite agents, the Spriggan, in an epic duel with the future of our species as the prize!

Normally, the little blurb on the back of the case barely begins to scratch the surface of the movie's plot. However, with Spriggan, this description sums up remarkably well the rather thin plot line of this movie. Perhaps it is good that this movie doesn't have a whole lot of plot to it, because what is there is pretty silly. The hero of the story is Oaname Yu, a Japanese high school student who leads a double-life as secret agent that defends the world from power-hungry organizations. Yu possesses singularly amazing abilities, such as being able to shake off broken limbs and punctured organs as easily as you or I would shake off a hangnail.

But, if you think that is a bit odd, buckle your seat belts folks because it really gets wild past this point. The bad guys in this movie are an American military conspiracy made up of senior officers who intend to use the Ark to dominate the rest of the world (without, it should be noted, the knowledge of the President or Congress).  To accomplish this goal, the conspiracy calls upon an elite organization within the US military made up of the afore-mentioned monstrous half-human cyborgs. The leader of this elite fighting force is a kid that looks to be 10-12 years old, is addressed as "Colonel," and has super-enhanced psychic abilities such as being able to make people's heads explode by thinking about it. As a member of the US military, I found this plot device a little grating, but what saved it for me is the fact that this fighting force is called the "Machine Corps." Machine Corps!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I don't think the creators of this movie wanted that to be a joke, but I was literally laughing out loud for five minutes when I heard that line.

I guess that people other than Academy mids would probably not see the humor in this, so I'll try to explain. "Machine Corps" is very close to "Marine Corps," and around the Academy the Marine Corps is often associated with over-the-top motivation. Thus, when I saw that these Rambo-esque one man armies were called the Machine Corps, the irony was quite amusing. I now return you to your regularly scheduled review.

The characters don't do much for the movie, as they aren't overly well developed and remain fairly one-dimensional throughout the movie. Yu, for example, is the stereotypical hero. He is as pure as the driven snow, highly capable and confident, and yet strangely rash at times in his actions. Most of the characters that are introduced have very few speaking lines, and often are seen for only one scene and wind up as disposable extras. To borrow a Star Trek phrase, "They are the red shirts."

The areas where Spriggan really shines are its audio and its visuals. First, the visuals. Spriggan is a graphical tour de force. The action sequences are truly exhilarating and benefit immensely from incorporating a large amount of CG.  There are gun battles, martial arts fights, and chase scenes here that put James Bond to shame. In terms of audio, Spriggan's sound effects and music are of very high quality, although for the most part the soundtrack isn't overly memorable. The dub version, which I watched for the review, was well done. The lines were convincingly read, and there was no out of place or stilted dialogue. I will have to see the sub to see if the term "Machine Corps" was in the original Japanese version, or if this was a flight of fancy for the translators.

Overall, Spriggan isn't a movie I can recommend to everyone. A Princess Mononoke, this isn't. However, despite this movie's flaws, I still found myself enjoying it. The action sequences and the visuals are very appealing and are generally entertaining. A consequence of this, however, is that Spriggan is rather violent. Thus, fans of action movies or those who are looking for a less cerebral cinematic experience will enjoy this one a lot more than those who prefer their anime have deep and involving stories. The bottom line? If you are looking for a gorgeous-looking violence fest full of guns, explosions, and gore, Spriggan is your ticket. More sensitive viewers or those who are looking for an engaging and thought-provoking story should probably pass.

By Andy Rucker