n ancient times, a mighty civilization rose and fell, leaving behind artifacts of immense power, and a warning stating that those artifacts had been locked away, never to be used again. The worldwide secret society ARCAM carries through on that civilization's legacy, keeping its relics hidden from humanity, with the help of superagents called Spriggans. When a team of explorers finds a massive artifact buried atop Mount Ararat in Turkey, ARCAM springs into action, taking over the site before the find becomes well publicized. But someone is attacking ARCAM teams around the globe, and the timing suggests that the artifact—thought to be the biblical ark built by Noah—is at the heart of the conflict.
Enter hotheaded teenager Yu Ominae, Japan's top Spriggan. Ominae knows nothing about the "Noah project" until one of his classmates, having disappeared for several days, turns up in school long enough to blow himself up in front of Yu, while begging for help and clearly trying to pry the detonator out of his own hand. Scrawled in red across his shirt are the words "NOAH WILL BE YOUR GRAVE." Furiously, Yu confronts his handler, gets the bare bones of the Noah story and barrels off to Turkey, half-cocked and looking for revenge.
His arrival has been anticipated, however, and getting to the Noah site turns out to be an adventure in itself. And shortly after he arrives, a group of rogue American agents—including two super-powered cyborgs and a creepy, enigmatic psychic child named Col. Mac Dougall—storm ARCAM's base in order to claim Noah for themselves. The American government, the cyborg faction and Mac Dougall himself all have various agendas; at least one of the cyborgs (the larger half of a psychotic duo tellingly code-named "Fat Man" and "Little Boy") mostly seems interested in killing Yu. But Mac Dougall is the one with the power, and the one with the dangerous understanding of what "Noah" really is, and how to use it.
The Godiva chocolate of eye candy
Spriggan is based on one segment of a much longer manga series, which explains some of the film's flaws; most notably, a number of things about ARCAM's origin and goals are never explained, and make relatively little sense. Not that it matters. For the most part, Spriggan isn't about plot: it's about frenetic battles, mostly between Yu and everyone else. (Though a second Spriggan, a Frenchman named Jean, does take up the slack whenever Yu's busy or incapacitated.) From jungle shootouts to snow-framed mountaintop battles, from car chases to psychic-on-superman showdowns, from wars of nerves to wars of high-powered ordnance, Spriggan's packed with action.
And much of that action looks stunning. Director Hirotsugu Kawasaki, a protégé of Akira writer/director Katsuhiro Otomo, made his feature debut here under Otomo's supervision, with results ranging from above-average to breathtaking. Lengthy, reflective scenes detailing the Turkish landscapes give Kawasaki space to show off his artists' skills, but the characters are almost as impressive in motion. A fluid, jumpy chase through a Turkish bazaar is particularly adept in its execution; it lacks the bombast of the later battles, but it's a spectacular piece of complex animation. The scenes inside Noah are more conventional, but they use a number of striking effects to give the sense that the interior is a truly alien space.
But Akira fans may be slightly put off by the obvious parallels between that film and Spriggan. In particular, Mac Dougall—a blue-skinned boy created through government experimentation, and prone to the same sorts of aggressive telekinetic-blast effects seen throughout Akira—seems to have come from the same classroom as Akira's blue kids. His climactic confrontation with the durable, heavily armed but none-too-bright Yu closely parallels Akira's conclusion as well. But again, Spriggan doesn't bear a great deal of analysis. It's an apocalyptic action film, pure and simple, and it's very effective as the limited genre picture it is. In effect, it's eye candy. But thanks to a high budget, some experimentation with well-blended computer animation and a great deal of attention to detail, it's the Godiva chocolate of eye candy.
While Spriggan's occasionally boneheaded English script leaves something to be desired, that's with good reason, as ADR director Matt Greenfield explains on this disk's tech-heavy audio commentary. At least the dub is well done: Kevin Corn is particularly convincing in the key role of the creepy, too-mature Mac Dougall.
— Tasha
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