This is epic anime – big SF ideas and big action sequences. The film deals with alien technology hidden on Earth and a secret organisation designed to keep mankind safe from it, there’s also a healthy dose of James Bond and Indiana Jones in the mix.
The film has a high WOW factor but falls down when it comes to character. Only Yu Ominae, the lead Spriggan agent, gets any real depth but when you have a film this action packed something has to give and in this case it’s character. While it may lack real emotional depth it does have an overtly political subtext, with the American villains’ codenamed Fatman and Little Boy (for those who don’t know they were the codenames of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
The ending sets the film up for a sequel but almost 10 years on there’s no sign of one. Perhaps the lack of an emotional connection to the characters in favour of none stop action ultimately backfired, with the film worth seeing for the spectacle but ultimately vacuous.
