Armitage: Dual-Matrix 2002 Horror Movie Review

This sequel offers little of the Blade Runner-influenced vision of a despotic future that made the original OAV and previous feature so popular. After living peacefully under assumed names on Mars, Naomi Armitage and her husband Ross Sylibus are drawn into a standard anime plot involving a sinister corporation’s efforts to create artificial humans. The curvaceous Naomi is actually a “Third,” the most formidable type of cyborg. (She’s even borne a child, which suggests just how sophisticated her circuitry is.) Naomi takes on the duplicates of her that the evil Demetrius Mardini has created, in a series of gunfights, fistfights, knife fights, and explosions. Despite the film’s promising origins, clumsy storytelling and director Katsuhito Akiyama’s tendency to stage many of the battles in dim dramatic lighting hurt its impact, as it’s difficult to follow what’s happening. Rated 16 Up: Graphic violence, violence against women, nudity, profanity. —Charles Solomon