Ghost In the Shell - directed by Rupert Sanders
For me this is a difficult movie to properly assess so soon after seeing it.
I liked it - I can definitely say that much.
How much and why and despite what faults I find harder to put into words.
It's maybe a lot because I feel a little biased towards it as it was filmed in New Zealand and Weta provided a lot of the costume and effects work for the film.
And then there is the inescapable fact that Scarlett Johansson is all over this films running time and runs the gamut from pretty to gorgeous to beautiful to smokingly sexy and back again and that quite often I found myself just staring at her and not concentrating on much else.
Johansson plays Major - a cyborg with a human brain.
The start of the film shows her being constructed then mere moments after her eyes open being informed that there was a terrorist attack that killed her family and left her body so devastated that the brain was all that they could save.
So Major becomes a key member of Section 9 charged with protecting the world from such terrorist acts.
The prime target in this battle then is Kuze a mysterious figure who has been hacking the minds of and killing a series of people who work for the Hanka Robotics.
The very same company who made Major.
Of course there is more to it than first meets the eye and what transpires will not surprise anyone who has seen any of the trailers for this film which give away far too much of the plot.
Very quickly one of the strengths of the film is apparent.
It is quite a looker.
The cityscape seems inspired as much by the game "Mirror's Edge" as it is "Blade Runner".
It is brighter and cleaner than the Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece and filled with holographic, animated advertised that tower up the sides and in between buildings.
Director Sanders frequently has his camera swoop down to street level to follow a car or up the side of a building to its roof to reveal Major perched atop.
And then there is the movement of Major herself.
There is sparing use of slow motion, a little parkour and a lot of controlled falling from great heights.
Johansson wears a skintight suit for much of the film which does absolutely nothing to lessen the visual appeal of the film!
I liked the nods to the anime too with a lot of shots being directly lifted from the animated original/
Music is also suitably electronic and moody making this not only a wonderful visual experience but an audio treat on top.
The story that plays out under this delicious exterior is not quite as good however.
As much as I like Johansson as Major and her hulking partner Batou played by Danish actor Pilou Asbæk they don't really have much in the way of character.
Major is on the hunt for the truth about who she is and what happened but it is all pretty by the numbers stuff.
There are few twists and no sharply felt losses along the way.
It makes the film cold and almost clinical - a tone that may seem like it fits with the future world of cyborgs and augmented humans but we are supposed to sympathise with Major.
Really all that I wanted was for her to drop off buildings, bounce of walls and punch and shoot a bunch of bad guys.
She does of course and the action scenes are very nicely done.
There is a spider tank sequence that is quite something and the opening scene in which Major bursts through a huge window wearing a cloaking device is terrific.
Each gunshot sounds impactful and the creepy geisha robot is delightfully horrific in the way that it crawls backwards up a wall clutching a human victim.
So there is a lot to like but I still felt that something was lacking.
Maybe one really killer action scene would have help but really more humanity is what is really missing.
I like Sanders as a director and God knows he can shoot a lovely looking film with superbly fluid camera movements but I wonder what directors like Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott or specially Denis Villeneuve would have done with this story to make it just that bit more about a real person that we care about rather than merely a ridiculously attractive woman who looks great kicking butt.
RATING: 79 / 100
CONCLUSION: A visual (and often audio) treat it is shame that "Ghost In the Shell" doesn't stimulate the heart and mind as much as it does the eyes and ears. Still, the action is good, Johansson simply stunning and there is enough originality and inventiveness to make this well worth seeing.
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Rila Fukushima, Juliette Binoche, Pilou Asbæk, Michael Wincott, Takeshi Kitano, Jacqueline Lee Geurts, Chin Han, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, Jordan Rivers, Julian Gaertner
Screenplay: Jamie Moss & William Wheeler
Music Score by: Clint Mansell & Lorne Balfe
Cinematography: Jess Hall
Edited by: Neil Smith & Billy Rich
Running Time: 110 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence
Running Time: 110 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence
I liked it - I can definitely say that much.
How much and why and despite what faults I find harder to put into words.
It's maybe a lot because I feel a little biased towards it as it was filmed in New Zealand and Weta provided a lot of the costume and effects work for the film.
And then there is the inescapable fact that Scarlett Johansson is all over this films running time and runs the gamut from pretty to gorgeous to beautiful to smokingly sexy and back again and that quite often I found myself just staring at her and not concentrating on much else.
Johansson plays Major - a cyborg with a human brain.
The start of the film shows her being constructed then mere moments after her eyes open being informed that there was a terrorist attack that killed her family and left her body so devastated that the brain was all that they could save.
So Major becomes a key member of Section 9 charged with protecting the world from such terrorist acts.
The prime target in this battle then is Kuze a mysterious figure who has been hacking the minds of and killing a series of people who work for the Hanka Robotics.
The very same company who made Major.
Of course there is more to it than first meets the eye and what transpires will not surprise anyone who has seen any of the trailers for this film which give away far too much of the plot.
 |
| Scarlett Johansson as Major... worth every cent of the reported $10,000,000 fee |
It is quite a looker.
The cityscape seems inspired as much by the game "Mirror's Edge" as it is "Blade Runner".
It is brighter and cleaner than the Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece and filled with holographic, animated advertised that tower up the sides and in between buildings.
Director Sanders frequently has his camera swoop down to street level to follow a car or up the side of a building to its roof to reveal Major perched atop.
And then there is the movement of Major herself.
There is sparing use of slow motion, a little parkour and a lot of controlled falling from great heights.
Johansson wears a skintight suit for much of the film which does absolutely nothing to lessen the visual appeal of the film!
I liked the nods to the anime too with a lot of shots being directly lifted from the animated original/
Music is also suitably electronic and moody making this not only a wonderful visual experience but an audio treat on top.
 |
| Takeshi Kitano, Pilou Asbaek and Michael Pitt |
As much as I like Johansson as Major and her hulking partner Batou played by Danish actor Pilou Asbæk they don't really have much in the way of character.
Major is on the hunt for the truth about who she is and what happened but it is all pretty by the numbers stuff.
There are few twists and no sharply felt losses along the way.
It makes the film cold and almost clinical - a tone that may seem like it fits with the future world of cyborgs and augmented humans but we are supposed to sympathise with Major.
Really all that I wanted was for her to drop off buildings, bounce of walls and punch and shoot a bunch of bad guys.
 |
| The visual effects are worth the ticket price alone |
There is a spider tank sequence that is quite something and the opening scene in which Major bursts through a huge window wearing a cloaking device is terrific.
Each gunshot sounds impactful and the creepy geisha robot is delightfully horrific in the way that it crawls backwards up a wall clutching a human victim.
So there is a lot to like but I still felt that something was lacking.
Maybe one really killer action scene would have help but really more humanity is what is really missing.
I like Sanders as a director and God knows he can shoot a lovely looking film with superbly fluid camera movements but I wonder what directors like Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott or specially Denis Villeneuve would have done with this story to make it just that bit more about a real person that we care about rather than merely a ridiculously attractive woman who looks great kicking butt.
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