Ghost in the Shell (2017) [Blu-ray]
Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

In the future humankind has turned to bodily cybernetic enhancements to make their lives better. Major Killian represents the first of her kind that is manufactured by Hanka Precision Instruments, as her body is full synthetic with a human brain. She is a shell with a living "ghost" inside of her and now she works for a governmental policing force called Section 9, which polices cyber terrorism and investigates synthetic related crimes

Storyline: In the near future, Major Motoko Kusanagi (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible terrorist attack, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people's minds and control them, Major Kusanagi is uniquely qualified to stop it. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major Kusanagi discovers that she has been lied to: her life was not saved, it was stolen. She will stop at nothing to recover her past, find out who did this to her and stop them before they do it to others. Based on the internationally acclaimed Japanese Manga, "The Ghost in the Shell." Written by Paramount Pictures

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, July 18, 2017 Most movie fans will recognize the name Ghost in the Shell as one of the all-time classic Anime films, as well as the larger franchise built around it (not to mention the original manga), rather than as an original property by way of its live-action adaptation. The story of combining flesh and technology in a dark Blade Runner-like future, the narrative serves as a warning sign as the potential for man and machine to meld becomes an ever more realistic proposition. The original was well ahead of its time and remains relevant today as a tight, exciting, and thought-provoking cautionary tale. The live action adaptation, in counter to the movie's very title, is little more than the shell; there's almost no soul despite the interesting, if not obviously recycled, contemplative themes. It's not entirely reliant on action and visual effects, and the themes do speak loudly and clearly, but one cannot shake the feeling that the film is little more than disposable entertainment that best leaves the thematic complexity to the original manga and classic animated film.

In the future, technology has advanced to the point that the line between man and machine has become blurred. Cybernetic implants are commonplace, allowing feats of knowledge and dexterity previously impossible to man as easy as a brief medical procedure. A young woman, Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson), is the sole survivor of a deadly cyberterror attack that took her parents' lives. The attack may not have killed her, but it did injure her enough to make her an ideal candidate for a "life saving" transplant in which her brain was placed in a cybernetic shell. She's an unwitting pioneer, the first such transplant patient. A year passes. She's adapted to her new body and is a Major in the anti-terror group Section 9, partnered with an enhanced man named Batou (Pilou Asbęk). A routine counter terror mission places the Major on a path of discovery that will redefine everything she knows about herself, the world, and the technology around her.

Ghost in the Shell's central story of the marriage of man and machine and the consequences thereof on the individual and the larger society are more relevant today than when the original film released more than two decades ago. Then, the technological revolution was still in its infancy; twenty-plus years have changed the world, not to the point that the world is an unrecognizable and out-of-control technocracy (yet), but the story seems much more valid and plausible today. That would seem to make this the perfect time to reintroduce the story to a wider, more contemporary audience and, indeed, the film does just that, promising and delivering a tightly dressed Scarlett Johansson, awe-inspiring visual effects, and action aplenty in the process. But even as the film explores its most fundamental and complex themes to satisfaction, one cannot help but feel that much of it is drowned out by style, that for all of the movie's efforts to the contrary its superficialities come to define it more than its narrative intricacies. For a movie of this nature, that's a death sentence. That successful balance is what makes a similar move like The Matrix so compelling. Ghost in the Shell cannot compete with that depth of story and depth of action. Try as it might, it cannot consistently merge the two with any significance, and the action and style take command far more often than do the narrative drivers.

The film is nevertheless an enjoyable, though certainly flawed, experience at that raw entertainment vessel level. It introduces no real new ideas or cinematic styles, but it's a solid enough entertainer and those superficialities will largely keep the viewer engaged, even as there are times when the plot becomes a plodding morass rather than a kinetic, fast-moving narrative blitz. Action comes furiously and with some quality support details in terms of props, places, and special effects. Gun battles are enjoyably organic and the world, as dense as it may be, feels vibrant and inspired. Of course, much of it will feel very familiar to fans of the original Anime. This Ghost in the Shell painstakingly recreates a number of memorable moments and shots from the original and, at times, takes various elements of the larger series and creates an amalgamation for use in this film. It's comfortable, and familiarity with the original film will help audiences overcome this version's lack of ultra-intensive narrative study and characterization to slide by, a bit, knowing what it is trying to do while enjoying its visual richness along the way. At best, this is a compliment to the original, certainly not a replacement. It's simply asking too much of a big studio film to capture the same essence as an original classic these days. Ghost in the Shell tries remarkably hard, and often comes close, but in the end its emphasis falls in the wrong place.

Ghost in the Shell, in any of its forms, depicts an intriguing but dark future of human enhancement and the frightening push away from what makes humans, human, including their flaws and limitations. A movie like this that cannot merely dabble in complexity, it must immerse itself in complexity, make it a centerpiece, and it must be made more for the thought provoking elements than anything else, using its action, style, and effects only to get audiences in the door and compliment the more important matters. This version of Ghost in the Shell isn't as thematically rich or deep as it needs be, despite a strong effort in that direction, favoring well done (but in some ways tired) action and effects instead. Paramount's Blu-ray is solid, though, featuring high quality video and audio. Supplements are fine, too. Worth a watch, but rent this and buy the Anime.


[CSW] -2.8- I've never seen or read any of the original source material for this film. I found the movie's beginning to be interesting, but for the first half of the plot, I found it to be fragmented and unimportant. Most of the panoramic shots of the cityscape were unnecessary and cluttered. I think the most parallel example would be Blade Runner, if I were describing the setting, and type of movie this is. The movie really starts to gain traction after the villain is discovered, and for the first time the movie has direction. For an action movie, I didn't really feel that impressed by what I saw. The enhanced robotic character that is supposed to be a weapon never really does anything that you wouldn't see Black Window do from the Marvel series. However, the second half of the movie is much stronger and builds character, which is sorely needed and ends leaving you glad you saw the film, but with plenty that could have had more pizzazz.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now (and would probably enhance this film).


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