Hello dear reader. Back in 1995, when mobile phones were the size of house bricks and online streaming meant waiting to pick up a prescription for your cold, Manga was all the rage and a bit of a worldwide thing. You couldn’t swing a cat shaped chopstick without knocking over or walking into a comic book or film adaptation of all things anime. During this golden age of oriental animation there were a few standout tittles, including Akira, Battle Angel and more Dragon Ball Z films than you could comfortably conceive. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Hollywood, who let’s face are always on the lookout for new and untapped source material, have decided to produce a live action version of Ghost in the Shell. Now, I’m going to state for the record that I won’t be commenting on the casting issues that have followed this film around since day one. Mostly because I’m only giving my opinion on the finished film and the how its holds up. And also because there are only so many hours in the day and regardless of whether you are for or against the casting of Ms Johansson, in the lead role, there are people and news articles out there that can give you a much more of an informed view into to the pros and cons of the studios decision.
So let’s begin at the beginning. Right off the bat I have to say I was thinking about using the acronym for Ghost in the Shell for the rest of this review but it turns out that’s ‘GITS’ which I think we can all agree, doesn’t really work. So if you don’t mind the extra wordage, I’m going to refer to the full title of the film, every time it needs to be mentioned. Mostly for my sanity but also a little because I think you’re nice and a movie blog is no place to use even slightly aggressive or for that matter fucking rude language, I hope you understand.
Ghost in the Shell is set in the near future; Scarlett Johansson plays Major Motoko Kusanagi. A cyber enhanced weapon that has a soul, memories and the ability to kick ass when asked to do so. Living in a world where terrorism can be conducted via thought, the Major is used to hunt people and organisations down, bring them to justice and where necessary, eliminate them. This is effectively Robocop 2.0 with hint of the Blade Runner, albeit with the colour pallet turned up to eleven. Ghost in the Shell manages to be visually impressive but without really engaging the audience. It’s a bit like the opening credits to Star Trek Voyager. It all looks very pretty and has obviously had a lot of time, energy and effort poured into it but when it’s all said and done, there’s no emotional connection. Having not seen the original Anime film that this version is based on I can’t tell you that if it’s an improvement but I doubt have to say I doubt it. This Ghost in the Shell has almost resigned itself to knowing that it was never going to be as good as its predecessor and then spent hour and forty five minutes trying to misdirect the audience with copious amounts of smoke and mirrors and extra helpings of ‘oohhh look at the shiny, shiny we have over here.’ The screenplay just didn’t really work for me at all. I didn’t feel any connection with the Major or what happened to her. Even to the point of when they did delve into her backstory, I was left thinking that it just felt cold and empty. The best way I could describe this is by saying that if you imagine that Ghost in the Shell is a jigsaw. Now, as with all jigsaws you go through and find all the edges or in this case you make sure your cornerstone and key components are in place. You go out and make sure that you’ve got your acting talent in place, there’s a director that you trust to spend your money and an effects team that can produce the look you’re after. So you have your jigsaw border in place and you start off with the best of intentions and try to fill in the middle. But the problem you find is that nothing seems to want to fit with anything else. No matter how you try and lay it out, none of your pieces will connect with what’s next to it. Or to put it another way, Ghost in the Shell never really becomes the sum of its parts. The supporting cast are a talented group but even the great Juliette Binoche seems to be phoning this performance in. The other notable actor that pops up is Michael Pitt as Kuzo. Fans of Hannibal will certainly know that he is capable of acting when the occasion and material calls for it but here he seems to be playing a bad guy that’s about as scary as a seven year old using ‘my dad’s bigger than your dad’ as an intimidation tactic. There also seems to just bit a hint of apathy that runs throughout the film and an undercurrent of detachment in everyone ones performance that makes Ghost in the Shell hard to like.
In closing I’ll say this. I don’t know if it’s because of the casting issues or just because it doesn’t hold up well as a film but I suspect we won’t be seeing another live action Anime title for a while. Bad press certainly hasn’t helped here but I’m not sure that’s entirely to blame for low turnout and the financial pasting Ghost in the Shell is currently taking. It is worth a look and you’re unlikely to see a better looking film anytime soon but unfortunately it’s hard to give this anything other than a disappointing two out of five. There is a case to be made for it to be a three star film but only with a very strong prevailing wind and a liberal interpretation of what qualifies as acceptable…
Twitter Review:
Too much shell & not enough ghost. Nice to look at but then again so are mirrors.
#DigitalLookAnalogueExecution
Too much shell & not enough ghost. Nice to look at but then again so are mirrors.
#DigitalLookAnalogueExecution
