Review of Ghost in the Shell (2017) by Joaomlo2 — 31 Mar 2017

Even with lowered standards it managed to disappoint me. First two acts were all over the place with your average evil corporation plot apparent from the first scene, characters over-explaining the themes (I get that it is intended for a broader demographic but perhaps more good "show, don't tell" moments like when Major was with that human prostitute would be better), they looked like they got Section 9 wrong (I have no idea why they bothered to invent that new female Section 9 member when they give her barely anything to say/do) and they completely missed the point on making the body Major was in, be important when the idea is that she has no problem detaching herself from her human form.

What I will defend in this movie (besides it being a visual masterpiece) is that the 3rd act gets extremely close to redeeming this movie. Major's origin reveal pretty much gave a big middle finger to the whitewashing controversy in my opinion. Section 9 suddenly started being likable again and the climax with the spider-tank although being straight from the anime like many other scenes, it's a really well done copy nonetheless.

Another thing is the fact that one year ago I have been introduced to Ghost in the Shell (instantly becoming a fan) because I heard this movie was being made which means that many more people will see the movie and may want to know more about the original movie and series which is enough justification for this movie to exist. If people somehow come to me and ask me about Ghost in the Shell, I won't have much trouble pointing this one out first and tell them that if they like the questions it asks but want a better movie, they should drop the anime prejudice and go straight to the 1995 movie and so on.