Sprigganby Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 7 Spriggan is a shoot ‘em up action adventure thriller that will appeal to anyone who likes their thrills and chills to come fast and furious. The direction is crisp, the characters are likeable (with the exception on the really creepy villain), there are some great plot twists here and there, the chase sequences are top-notch, the story is always gripping, the fight scenes are exciting, things blow up real good, and the suspense is constant. My only criticism is that the work borrows a bit too much from Akira, but that didn’t decrease my enjoyment of the work.The set up: a teenager also happens to be the world’s greatest spy. He’s an elite agent (the Spriggans of the title) for an international good guy group called ARCAM. After his friends start dying in horrid ways, spy-boy investigates and dodges a lot of bullets, only to end up in the frozen north, where scientists have found (get this) Noah’s Ark. Note that it’s Noah’s Ark, not the Ark of the Covenant like in Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are similarities between Spriggan and Raiders, but it’s not the same plot exactly, nor do the two works have the same tone. Spriggan is a bit more serious than the jokey but enjoyable Raiders. There’s an evil group of renegade scientist types that also want the Ark. It seems the darned thing is a technological marvel inside with lots of neat tech. To tell you more about the story would spoil it. Suffice to say, the world is in deadly danger due to the evil nasties and what’s on the arc. The animation is a-one, with bold uses of color. It looks very realistic, which doesn’t matter so much to anime fans, but might to those who aren’t as into anime because of its stylized animation. The box says the movie is rated R, but it’s barely a PG 17. I’d let most kids watch it, if the kids were mature in outlook or if their parents wanted to watch, too. It’s an above average summer blockbuster type movie and I think most people will probably enjoy it. Written: May 21, 2002
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