Ghost in the Shell

Year: 2017

Genre: Sci-Fi Action

Directed: Rupert Sanders

Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbaek, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt, Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, Tawanda Manyimo, Peter Ferdinando, Amamaria Marinca

Production: Arad Productions

Ghost in the Shell is like the Velvet Underground of anime; the few, who were introduced to it early on, went on to start their own thing, resulting in a subtle cultural reverberation that still lingers in some of your favorite science fiction. You can see shades of the Ghost in the Shell manga, film (1995), subsequent TV series (2002-2003) and videogames in everything from the Matrix franchise (1999-2003) to A.I. (2001), Ex Machina (2015), Surrogates (2009), and even RoboCop (2014) (the s**t remake, not the original). Thus when it was finally deemed necessary to cobble together a watered-down, whitewashed, live-action remake of the influential anime, the best one could have hoped for was an echo of what once was - A slight but enjoyable jaunt through the recent history of sci-fi ephemera only with 15% of the charisma and 10% of the brain power. In that regard, the latest incarnation of Ghost in the Shell is a marginal success.

Well at least it's not Dragonball: Evolution (2009)

For those unfamiliar with the original, the ghost that characters repeatedly refer to throughout the film is, in essence the soul. The story takes place in a far off future where nearly everyone on earth has been fitted with various technological advancements; coaxing questions like when do humans cease becoming human? Such advancements include robotic limbs, eyes capable of seeing beyond the visible spectrum, brain plug-ins capable of connecting with vast networks and in one smirk-worthy case, a robotic liver that allows one minor character to consume more alcohol.

Major (Johansson) however is a special case. Due to an accident, her entire body (with the exception of her brain) is completely synthetic. This makes her an important asset to Section 9, a cybercrime police force tasked with bringing down the world’s most dangerous hackers and cyber-criminals. When a slew of company bigwigs are murdered by those under the control of a mysterious puppeteer, it becomes the job of Major, Batou (Asbaek) and their superior officer Aramaki (Kitano) to bring him down.

While the look and feel of Ghost in the Shell is taken nearly whole-cloth from the anime, the story is very much its own beast. It takes bits and pieces of the original, but only so specific fan-favorite set pieces can be squeezed in and gawked at. Such scenes of course have to include Major’s invisible base jumping and the semi-ethereal assembly build that dominates the title sequence. Otherwise we’re given what basically amounts to an oppressive and dour retelling of RoboCop (1987) without its satirical bite. In the most succinct way I can sum this up (Spoiler alert): Man creates Evil Corporation, Evil Corporation makes Major, Major finds out Evil Corporation is lying, Major kills Evil Corporation.

Woman inherits the Earth...

It’s all so pedestrian and cloying; a sad predicament when you consider the original was laid thick with existential and determinist ponderings, political intrigue, understated gender politics and feral body horror. This adaptation not only ignores everything that made Ghost in the Shell so special, it neuters its impressive visuals with enough imposing clutter to make The Island (2005) look like a minimalist masterpiece. It’d be one thing if the film’s 3D adverts and cumbersome techno-enhancements did something to further the plot but their domination of the negative space combined with their constant movement only serves to distract.

Get an upgrade...Resistance is futile

 Its visual filigree that means nothing combined with a story that’s a pastiche of other better films, helmed by a star that did the exact same thing only better in Under the Skin (2013). For what it’s worth, Scarlett Johansson does a swell job playing a character whose main attribute is she’s too intelligent, gorgeous and deadly to truly be real. While I am very sympathetic to those upset by Major’s whitewashing and will definitely attest that literally any Japanese actress could have filled in and been just as fine, from the perspective of the film’s money-men, Johansson was the surefire choice.

In fact nearly everything about this movie is a "surefire choice," made for the sole purpose of maximizing profit potential by stymieing anything that even smells of originality. The sets, the effects, the story; Ghost in the Shell isn’t so much a movie as it is a marketing decision. One could draw an elaborate graph detailing how every frame of the film sits at some mean between bankability and fiscal risk. If I were you however, I wouldn’t be buying what they’re selling no matter how good Scarlett Johansson looks in a skin-tight latex suit.

 

Final Grade: D+