Anime Shell XG // Anime // Infomation // Armitage III ->


Armitage III: Poly-Matrix is the four OAVs put together into a single feature, and it shows. A couple of times you get the feeling that there should have been a commercial break or something--there were three suspiciously evenly spaced, climatic fights through the film. Other than that, the plot was pretty good--A classically styled cop film set on Mars with a lot of robots. In all, the American voice acting (there is a subtitled version of the OAVs, but not the movie) was passable, though at times surprisingly bad considering these people are supposed to be real actors (well, Keifer Sutherland, anyway). The other problem was with the characters; I don't know if it was Keifer's fault or it was just the way the character was written (just by looking at him, I'd say the writing shoulders at least part of the blame), but Ross had all the personality of a tree. Admitedly, it is part of the plot that Armitage, the robot, acts a whole lot more human than Ross, the human, but Ross's voice was nearly emotionless throughout, so there was no contrast, and he's just not very interesting to boot; his voice varies from a cheesy monotone to a slightly angry monotone. Armitage is more fun (she also dresses a lot more like Elizabeth Berkeley's character in Showgirls than like a cop), but not notably well acted, either; not bad, just not spectacular. The other roles were solid, but not noteworthy.

Overall, Armitage III: Poly Matrix is pretty good; it has passable acting and art, a reasonably interesting plot, above average animation, and a healthy amount of action. Plus, you get to hear major American actors voicing anime characters. Weather or not that's a good thing is up to you...