Review of Ghost in the Shell (1995) by Luis V — 11 Jul 2011

One of the most influential anime films since Akira. The plot may be a little complex but here it goes. The story takes place in a futuristic Tokyo like if it was a Mega-Metropolis. The protagonist is a cyborg named Motoko Kusanagi whom is a leader of a special police task force called "Section 9". Most of them are cyborgs so they can communicate easily threw wireless network, miles a way of distance of each other. There's a hacker whom calls himself "The Puppet Master" that hacks into people's memories. As Section 9 hunts down the elusive hacker, the Major starts to doubt her own existence.

If you love cyberpunk then you guys are going to love this, because it has everything that a cyberpunk fan wants. Violence, action, mystery, etc. What I love about this is film is its originality. We never see this type of films before a sci-fi/action/drama film that we can relate to somehow. Sometimes we doubt our own existence. When we ask ourselves: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is our purpose in this world? Is like the world is a giant stage and we are actors playing our roles. That's the message of this film. Sometimes we act like robots because we follow orders without doubt or curiosity of why they are giving this order. The complexity of this character is really good and effective. She doesn't know where she came from. I love the intro of this movie because it shows how technology has impacted our lifestyle and how we have become part of it and will become part of it in the future.

Is seriously had no problem with this film except that the plot was complicated and sometimes I got lost, but in a good way. The pacing is good since it is just one hour and a half, is not such a long movie that you have to sit threw. Did grabbed my attention? Yes it did. From the beginning to the end, I had my heart racing with this film. So this film really works on entertainment. The supporting characters where good, they where interesting to watch. The animation to me was perfect, just perfect, everything of the animation worked great. Never seen really good animation in my life until I saw this movie. There's no problem with the film that I noticed, so far.

It is also an excellent sci-fi movie because it talks how have put so much in the Internet that we almost put our souls in the Internet. There is a question, an important question, in this movie that might happen in real life in the next century: After an accident, if our brain gets transferred to an artificial our body, does our souls get transferred too? Does her soul is still inside this artificial body, inside her robotic shell? Who knows? but if she ever finds out, it would totally affect her personality and how she behaves.

This film has become an influence on a lot of films, not just anime film but in live action films. The Matrix was heavily influenced by this film and when you watch this film you are going to remember the Matrix. This film has been known around the world, including America. So when a film becomes an international phenomenon you know that this film is a masterpiece. I think the ending was also conclusive, and they should not have made a sequel, they should have ended there.

I would recommend this to people that love anime, sci-fi, cyberpunk. It really holds the qualities of a great film. This is films is absolutely fun, original, and serious when it comes to drama. If you don't like films with a lot of action and complexity then don't watch this film. This films works if you watching as a heist thriller, and if you don't like it then skip this film.