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Ghost in the Shell

Hey everyone, long time no write, but I have just been gathering things to write about. That is the main reason on why I am going to start with a movie that is two months old.  There are going to be a few of these reviews coming in the next day or two, so I am going to leave all of my current news for the last review. I missed you guys, but I am trying to find a way to put all of this into a podcast. The podcast idea is taking a little longer than I had hoped, but I’m still crossing my fingers and working hard to bring it to you all. Hope all my readers are crossing their fingers for it as well! So let’s start this rush of reviews off with anime adaptation Ghost in the Shell.

Major (Scarlett Johansson Captain America: Civil War) is cyber enhanced human, created to stop terrorism with the help of an elite group known as Section 9. Major is thrown into action when she discovers that someone is hacking into the minds of everyone. However, when she confronts the terrorist she learns that he may not be the villain that she assumed. He asks her to question her reality and the people she says that she trusts. Now Major is on the hunt for the truth.

So trying to adapt other media into film is still going strong, the funny thing is that I had thought that leaving Japanese anime was like an unwritten rule somewhere, but I don’t think writers Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, or Ehren Kruger really seen that rule anywhere. I mean seriously did they not see that DragonBall Z movie? I would think that was enough to know NOT to adapt anime into live action. However, I will give credit to the writers and director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) for at least making this an okay movie.

The mediocrity starts with Johannson who seems to be going through the motions with this movie in terms of she is going to give enough to show that she isn’t a horrible actress, but not enough to show that she was once a BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated actress…numerous times. I appreciated that she encapsulated the wonder and confusion of who Major is, but I fear that she was hired for this as a Black Widow rip off. I’m upset that Michael Pitt was not utilized as a villain a lot more than he was. There was so much potential in that performance that he could have been very memorable, but instead we are treated to less than 10 minutes and misused character.

What I think lifted the film for total DragonBall Z disaster is the visuals and the action scenes. Very reminiscent of the anime and 1982’s Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell is a very moody yet beautiful film. The effects are seamless which makes this world very believable. The action scenes were also entertaining. No so over the top as so many can be in this type of film, but grounded enough to give more realism to the film.

Look…I didn’t hate this film, but I was highly disappointed with it as well. There was so much potential here that given the right director and better acting from its lead, Ghost in the Shell could have been an exception to the adaptation curse. As far as “white washing” this film, I can understand both sides to this argument. Paramount wanted to start a franchise, which all production companies want to do now a days, and they wanted a face that EVERYONE was going to relate to. However, Paramount should have watched Snow White and the Huntsman, gotten a better director (maybe even writers), and taken a shot with an unknown Asian actress. Paramount is going to make their money with the stupid Transformers franchise anyway so why not take a chance?

Anyway, if you enjoy movies like The Matrix or even Blade Runner, then consider this a very distant cousin that likes to play pretend to it’s more popular cousins. Ghost in the Shell isn’t so bad that you need to write it off, but I wouldn’t waste money on it either. One day it will be on Netflix or Hulu, so enjoy it as filler until you find something better to watch.

The Verdict: Wait for Netflix.