Review of Ghost in the Shell (2017) by Skepticalhippo — 05 Apr 2017

I'm afraid this movie was a massive disappointment for this long-time GITS fan. While the visuals are okay - if a little CGI-heavy - they can't distract from the abysmal script, monotone delivery and virtually non-existent character development.

With such a wealth of source material, I just can't understand how little substance there was to this film. We saw nothing of Section 9's camaraderie, nor did we see the Major acting like a kick-ass leader, organising the team, playing to their individual strengths. She was like a stroppy teenager the whole way through the movie. The complex relationship between her and Batou, or between her and "the old ape", were also mostly absent.

Gone also are any meaningful philosophical discussions on the nature of intelligence - such a core part of the GITS franchise. Instead we get a lacklustre rehash of the Robocop plot. I appreciate there are time constraints with any movie, but the 1995 movie managed to fit plenty of philosophy into its 20-minute-shorter running time, while being just as action packed.

Oh and the music, the all important music that was such a big part of the 1995 anime and the TV shows? Nope, noting remotely comparable made it into this movie. It's just dull, generic-sounding background music from start till finish. This was all the more surprising given that the music in the first trailer was pretty good.