Review of the movie Ghost in the Shell. Where is the ghost? (Topic)

The appearance of Ghost in the Shell as a feature movie was a matter of time. Of course, those who are familiar with Masamune Shiro's original manga and anime did not expect the movie to rise to the same level with her, the picture could only be on a par with its predecessors, but not higher. Everything turned out to be even worse. "Ghost in the Shell" will not sink into the soul even of a person who is not familiar with the original. And what are the reasons? Of course, in the secondary performance and superficial attitude of the director.

We love Japanese works for their originality, unlike a huge number of Western works, they are more unique in their plot and features. And the most select of them just become the basis for Western art. Take at least the textbook tapes of Akira Kurosawa, more than once adapted in Hollywood.

With regard to "Ghost in the Shell", things are a little different. The concept of the manga is based on Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, which in turn is a free adaptation of Philip Dick's novel. An atmospheric movie, became the ancestor of the cyberpunk genre in cinema. For his time, he became innovative, raising complex questions about who a person is and who is called a person. However, Ridley Scott paid for this with scanty fees and negative criticism in his address, the movie was considered boring. The movie, not understood by critics, nevertheless became a cult, ordinary viewers rated it higher.

"Blade Runner" to some extent gave birth to "Ghost in the Shell", and he, in turn, inspired Wachowski to create "Matrix". And what happens now with the "Ghost ..."? Modern realities have made it possible to cram a lot of CGI into it, in order to make philosophical futuristic fantasy more glossy. But the strange thing is that what should help in understanding the movie prevents this: CGI is designed to bring the viewer closer to understanding transhumanism and future technologies, but it does not work. Moreover, the overload with special effects only gets in the way. And sometimes it even reveals bloopers and flaws. The notorious "slow-mo" tries to hide the flaws of the chroma key and digital graphics, but there are so many slowdowns that it makes the viewer yawn, or even leave the cinema.

Scarlett Johansson should be highlighted separately. "Ghost in the Shell" proves once again that her acting skills are either grossly overrated, or Scarley is simply messing around. The artistry of the rest of the actors would have been nice if the tape was longer. All the experiences of the heroes are very limited in time. But in the masterpiece primary source it was just an integral part: slow measured reasoning about the nature of everyone and everything, which tore the soul of the manga reader and anime viewer. Most of the references to memorable scenes were moved here from a purely technical point of view, such as the Major's immersion under water, that the episode with the pursuit of an invisible person, etc.

The director tries to do justice to the spirit of the manga by bringing it to the screen, but it comes out rather superficial. The real villain here is simple cardboard: he is the bad boss of a bad corporation with inhuman intentions. Of all the actors, only Philip Asbek pleases most of all, who responsibly played the partner of the heroine of the operative Batu. As for the plot, it completely descends to the "father of stamps" – erasing memory and creating a super soldier. Nothing new, no revelation or disclosure of new facets.

As a result:
"Ghost in the Shell" pleases the eye, but does not touch the soul. An ordinary viewer will not find anything of value for himself, he has already seen all this somewhere and in a more soulful embodiment – "Robocop", "Total Recall", "I, Robot" and even the domestic "Hardcore" are much more original than the movie by Rupert Sanders. Despite everything, this is still a colorful movie with good actors, and therefore deserves a technical 7 out of 10, but a higher score would be a blasphemous mockery of the original. In general, the picture can be characterized by the phrase "nothing special", after watching it, it quickly disappears from the memories of both fans of the cult anime and an outside viewer.

The Topic of Article: Review of the movie Ghost in the Shell. Where is the ghost?.
Author: Jake Pinkman