Review of Ghost in the Shell (2017) by Spangle — 22 Aug 2017

For a film about a brain that gets put into a terrorist fighting robot, Rupert Sanders' Ghost in the Shell sure is dull and conventional. Blowing the budget on special effects and a beautiful score, Ghost in the Shell apparently could not spare a dime for an overhauled script that was not so pale, cliche, and run-of-the-mill. A classic tale of a dedicated-to-the-law hero who slowly discovers that everything they thought was true is not true, the bad guy is actually good, and those helping them are actually the bad ones, Ghost in the Shell feels impeccably shallow, forgettable, and shockingly boring. While a visual splendor at every turn, Ghost in the Shell's success is skin deep with no beating heart to keep its blood pumping and no charm to be found whatsoever in this science fiction action film.

As I have never watched the anime or manga or whatever the film is based on, I came into this one without any pre-conceived notion as to what it should look and feel like. Yet, I nonetheless came away wholly underwhelmed. Horrifically edited, chopped up, and dumped at about 90 minutes long, Ghost in the Shell is a film that hints at many different topics, but is never actually given a chance to explore them. As she is a woman killed by a malevolent organization and then used by that organization to advance their cause in the body of a robot, the film could have a lot of things to say about identity, politics, and be used as a critique of governmental control of a country. Yet, none of these are given any measure of depth. Instead, the lazy and nonsensical writing of the plot leaves these items as backdrops to beautiful effects, forgetting to actually provide the film with any measure of depth in its story. Comfortable being a passable and forgettable shoot 'em up action flick with cliches throughout, Ghost in the Shell feels as though it is a studio product built to suppress the interesting ideas clearly envisioned in the source material in favor of making it more commercially viable. By the end, it is clear that this is not Ghost in the Shell, but rather something inspired by it that entirely misses the point of its source material. It is a live-action remake without heart or soul that feels as though it is nothing more than an ill-advised cash grab attempt.

The aforementioned issues with the editing are really what waylays this film. Much like 2016’s Suicide Squad, there a lot of interesting ideas and themes that get tossed at the wall in Ghost in the Shell. However, very little actually winds up sticking. Instead, it gets lost in a film that feels chopped up and wholly misguided. At a tight 90 minutes, Ghost in the Shell could have been a cohesive and smart action science fiction film. Unfortunately, at a loose 90 minutes, Ghost in the Shell is a longer film crammed into a shorter running time that still tries to accomplish all of the same goals and messaging as a longer film. Thus, Ghost in the Shell is one of those films that tries to do too much in a short timeframe, never giving any of it the proper depth. This is truly exemplified when the film finally jumps into the plotting in the second half. Speeding through without trying to remain a cohesive piece, Ghost in the Shell has to resort to having characters just come out and explain things that would be shown or revealed in a different fashion in other, better films. Instead, here, everybody seems willing to just spill the beans and say exactly what the mysterious project that created Major and others was really all about. After years of covering it all up, it is amazing what the realization that the film is about to end can do to a character’s motivation to explain what happened. In stark contrast, the first half takes its time and really tries to pace itself before everything just hits the fan in the second half with the film stumbling out of control, desperately trying to end in time while covering as much ground as possible. Ghost in the Shell is a film that, when it ends, you wonder where the rest of the movie went.

The film’s storyline really does not do the film’s strengths any justice either whatsoever. Largely about a new program that puts human brains into robot bodies to make warriors, Ghost in the Shell ditches its heady ideas about augmentation and then blending of human with mechanical in favor of becoming just another film about cover-ups. On the surface, it could be interesting with the mysterious Kuze (Michael Pitt) infecting robots and using them to kill the scientists on some highly secretive project. A compelling character given a strong rendition by Pitt, Kuze winds up just being a character with a vengeance that is being hunted by the people who are actually evil, who use the unwitting Major to do their bidding. Revealing he is actually good and there to help Major, only to die seconds later, Ghost in the Shell is a lazily written and unimaginative film with a derivative and dull plot.