The soundtrack stocks itself heavily with juiced-up, techno-leaning rock themes for a bold and brassy sound that is, at times, a little too bold and brassy. The assignment of pieces to particular scenes could be better, too, although most of the time the numbers satisfactorily the action. Arguably the strongest number is the one which plays during the closing credits.

Sadly, the plotting and storytelling are not up to the same standard as the visuals (or even the audio); unfortunately this seems to be a common trait of all-CG efforts coming out of Japan. The rather generic plot primarily exists to give the movie excuses for its plentiful action sequences, thus resulting in no real sense of depth or thorough development. Characterizations beyond Deunan are very basic and limited, and even hers feels like it could have been a lot richer. The 105 minute time limit does keep things moving along at a brisk pace but also results in a compacted feel, leaving one wondering what this movie might have accomplished story-wise if it had instead been a 12-episode TV or OVA series. Even Masamune Shirow's trademark philosophizing gets watered down into merely a plainly pessimistic view of human nature. The story does get points for its frequent use of Greek mythology in its naming conventions, though.

But who is really going to watch this one for depth or development of story, characterizations, and philosophy anyway? Appleseed was intended to be a slam-bang action-intensive work, and taken solely on that criteria, it succeeds pretty well. You will need to look elsewhere for your regular dose of substance, though.