Ghost in the Shell

It's a bit of a rare occasion that I see a movie based on previous source material and I'm not hardly aware of any aspect of said source material. 

I feel like I read most books before they become films, or am already aware of the property's origins before becoming a movie. 

But, alas, I'm not really into anime at all so Ghost in the Shell has consistently escaped me. I know that it's a very popular anime, but other than that no-s**t-Sherlock tidbit of info, I'm pretty in the dark. 

So take that for what you will with my review of this. How it relates to the source material, I'm completely unaware and how actual fans of that material will react to this, I haven't the slightest clue. I imagine they'll be slightly disappointed. 

Ghost in the Shell is a case of being a little to late to the cinematic realm with the story it's trying to tell despite how gorgeous it looks. I think there's a potentially awesome story here, but I honestly believe that maybe a departure from the source material would have done it some good. I couldn't help but think of films like Ex Machina when it came to the story's weaker points and how that film tackled it so much better even though there are some really distinct differences. 

Ghost in the Shell (spoiler free synopsis here) tells the story of a "woman" who wakes up. She was in a terrible accident and lost her body but kept her "soul", or ghost (i.e. brain). They've implanted that brain into a cyborg body and created Scarlett Johansson. In this distant future, the success of this operation is fairly enormous, though kept curiously under wraps, and she's used as a weapon to serve justice. As the movie continues, she begins experiencing mental glitches and slowly unravels fragments of her past. Again, how close that is to the source material, I have no idea, but on paper it sounds about as dull as it comes across on screen. It's part origin story and part classic "hunt for one's past" tale with nothing really mind-blowing or enlightening happening along the way. All "twists" are decently telegraphed if you couldn't already guess them from the genre you're in anyway. I come back to Ex Machina that told a somewhat unremarkable story at a high level, but did so in such a thoughtful, realistic, and eerie way that it worked splendidly. Even The Matrix did something very similar much better and it kind of makes me wonder why this particular anime is so popular in the first place. Maybe there's some key story elements the film is missing? What's worse is that this film ends anticlimactically with me sitting there, looking at my watch and saying, "Oh...that must be it?". That's never a good sign and it's a huge bummer because it starts off strong, maintains that initial hook, and as soon as the mystery begins to unravel it becomes generic and uninteresting. As is the case with far too many blockbusters, the final fight scene is also by far the lamest one so it's really just an annoying dip in quality all around. 

I don't care if I've seen it before. That's still pretty cool.

The face you make when...
you've just eaten 10,000 Sour Patch Kids

Ghost is at its best when it's letting its visuals and stylish action take over. I'm a sucker for that type of stuff to start with, so I adored it when it went to it's synthesizers-based original score, slow-motion action and impressive special effects. There are moments of a great movie here, even when they heavily echo/copy things like The Matrix. It helps too that Johansson is a strong lead, even if her character is written surprisingly flat and uncharismatic. She has a presence and it even looks like she bulked up for the role, walking with a purpose throughout her scenes and being a complete badass. Whether it was whitewashing or not, I don't think it really matters as she brings star power to the role and I think she fits it well enough to where I'm not entirely positive why the controversy exists, especially once you figure out certain details of her character. I digress though and will circle back to the point: most of the action is awesome. I think it would have been better suited for an R-rating but this is a PG-13 that somewhat pushes the violence limits. It looks great when it's in motion and there are two awesome scenes that fit right alongside other iconic action films. Both have been advertised heavily, which is a bit of a shame, but seeing Johansson in an invisible suit beat the hell out of a guy in a very shallow pool is cool no matter how many times you see it. I also briefly mentioned the original score. Like the rest of the film, its presence/quality dips heavily in the final third but up until that point it's probably one of the best we've heard this year and adds a lot of mood to the visuals.

I wouldn't fight her.

Ghost in the Shell ends up being the obvious case of an attempt for style over substance. It's rare that films pull this off (i.e. 300) and Ghost should have taken into consideration that it relies so heavily on its story, thus it should have been an equal balance of both. I appreciated its short length, but given how "meh" the whole plot feels it seems they could've used the extra time to flesh things out and create a better finale. Whether that meant breaking away from the original material or not, I'm not sure, but there's a better movie here somewhere, it's just not this one despite how awesome it looks.

CONS

• A story that we've seen before and one that we've seen done better
• The final third feels like one giant dip in quality. Nearly every aspect feels like an afterthought and the anticlimactic ending is a massive bummer
• An example of style over substance where it doesn't work
• Major is a oddly written character. Other than Johansson being the one in the role, the character itself is pretty boring
• Not much of a sense of mystery. It'll be predictable for most

PROS

• Looks gorgeous
• Johansson is good in the role and looks like she did some serious training to make that nude-suit work
• Features a couple really cool action scenes
• Interesting cast of characters
• Fantastic original score that I was really digging until it basically disappeared all-together

Rath's Review Score | 6/10