Last Exile - Positional Play (Vol. 2)
The action accelerates as teenage heroes Claus and Lavie follow the  mysterious and apparently important child Al to theSilvana, the redoubtable  flying fortress of Captain Alex Row. Claus demonstrates his impressive skills as  a Vanship pilot when theSilvanais attacked by the starfish-shaped  vessels of the effete Lord Dio. After the battle, theSilvanadocks at a  lavish casino-satellite for repairs, where Lavie and the crew get involved in  a nasty contretemps with a cowardly nobleman. Director Kouichi Chigira's  dynamic choreography of the CG dogfights between Claus's Vanship and Lord Dio's  starfish makes the viewer forgets how aerodynamically unsound both vessels are.  The exciting action sequences and muted, sepia-toned designs are more  interesting than the story-telling. After eight episodes ofLast Exile, the  characters remain ill-defined and the plot is lurching forward with little energy or  direction. (Rated 13 and older: violence, minor profanity, alcohol and tobacco  use)--Charles Solomon