Review of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) by Rox22 — 06 Dec 2013

Falls short of the splendor of the first movie. GitS 2 seems to be doing 3 things:

1) Recapture the spirit and style of the first movie.

While a nice idea, the producers seem to have forgotten there were 2 whole seasons inbetween theFalls short of the splendor of the first movie. GitS 2 seems to be doing 3 things:

1) Recapture the spirit and style of the first movie.

While a nice idea, the producers seem to have forgotten there were 2 whole seasons inbetween the movies. So the characters and tone of the series have changed quite drastically since GitS1.

2) It pays allot of fan service (not the pervy kind) by clearly linking this movie to the first movie and the series.

This, for me, was the movie's strong point. Dedication and acknowledgement of its fan base is crucial. It was nice to see the loose ends left from GitS: Second Gig being wrapped up. However, I would imagine that anyone not familiar with the series was probably scratching their head.

3) Artistic animation overload.

Clearly they were trying as hard as they could to amaze and dazzle with the animation, just like the first movie. While the animation was fantastic, it just did not have the same effect the first movie did. If they had stuck with hand drawn animation, it is likely they would have gotten the reaction they had intended.

Overall:

GitS 2 is a very good movie, but I have to say that is also the worst installment of the series as well. If they had stuck to the tone and animation style of the TV series, then maybe they could have had another generation defining movie, but as it is, it is just another good looking anime that fails to stand out from its competition.