Review of Ghost in the Shell (2017) by Wayne K — 13 Aug 2017

Slammed on its release and a failure at the box office pretty much everywhere it was shown, Ghost In The Shell has its fair share of ups and downs. I'm not very familiar with the original anime, besides knowing a character name or 2 and a little about its overall premise, so I can't make any kind of meaningful comparisons.

I simply judged it on what happened between the opening and ending credits. It has a fantastic aesthetic, some top-notch CGI and has a very futuristic, Big Brotheresque atmosphere. Unfortunately, the story is dull and derivative, most of the characters are forgettable and the central message is copied almost verbatim from Total Recall, a far more enjoyable Sci-fi film incidentally.

Despite how good things looks and how exciting some of the actions scenes could be I was never able to shake the feeling that I was watching a Matrix clone. The grim, dystopian concept, the ruminations on life and technology, plugging in and entering dreams/experiencing visions.

It's not wholly unimaginative, but never displays enough uniqueness or originality to distinguish it in any way. And to address the whitewashing issue, Scarlett Johansson, who I really like as an actress, was clearly cast from her marketability and desire to appeal to Western audiences, because we're apparently all too ignorant to watch and enjoy a movie with an Asian lead in an Asia-based story.

The fact that Major possibly not Kusanagi is surrounded by Japanese people and that we discover she was a Japanese child makes it all the more ridiculous. It was a pretty enjoyable sit, and I certainly didn't hate it, but what really stings is that it could have, and should have been, much, much better.