Ghost in the Shell

I am writing this review as someone who hasn't seen the original anime. I have also been very critical of the whitewashing of this film. With that I aside, I went to see it with willingness to give it the benefit of the doubt. "Ghost in the Shell" is well...a beautiful shell. The visuals were absolutely breath taking. The action scenes flowed so beautifully with special effects. But that's all the movie had to offer. Take away the spectacles and you have a basic run-of-the-mill action movie. The acting was fine. But honestly, the leads didn't have anything to actually sink their teeth into. Scarjo, and everyone else, was serviceable. If you're looking for some mindless, yet stunning entertainment, then go see it.

I've watched Ghost in the Shell at the cinema 3 days ago, knowing beforehand about the controversies that have surrounded this movie for the last 6 months or so. Science fiction movies are probably my favorite genre and I also enjoyed most of Scarlett's movies for the past 8-9 years so those two factors were a plus for me going in. Regarding the whitewashing business, I think its been blown way, WAY out of proportion by social justice warriors with nothing better to do than drag media attention over whatever they're feeling insecure about this month/year. For those of you who might be on the fence about watching a Caucasian actress in the role that (supposedly) should've been reserved to an Asian actress, please consider this a NON-MATTER and watch it anyway. The character she is portraying is SUPPOSED to look Caucasian/white. It was the same in the source material and even the creator of that anime said so in interviews. Now, is the movie any good? In my opinion, yes. Yes it was. It wasn't amazing but at the very least entertaining. There is a good amount of people who score this a 1/10 because they are butt hurt that the story was changed a lot. Please ignore them and see for yourself even if you're a fan of the anime and are able to keep an open mind. I think maybe I was able to judge it more objectively because I had zero knowledge about the story in the anime going in, but, if nothing else, the movie actually made me want to watch those old ones to compare. The acting - 7.5/10 - Since Scarlett Johansson is the only big name that the movie is being marketed alongside, I'd say she did a good job. At no point in the movie could I say she didn't belong there. She played the part of cyborg who had difficulty belonging in a human world very well. The cast is diverse enough in my opinion, though some of them get pretty little screen time. The visuals - 9/10 - If there is one point most critics/viewers are in alignment concerning this movie, that point is definitely the visuals. The movie both looks and feels spectacular, with the futuristic city looking like a close-future mix of Blade Runner and TRON. The combination of CGI and practical effects looks organic, the movie's powerful themes of excessive self-augmentation and technology almost running amok represented very well visually. Soundtrack - 8/10 - Sometimes pretty subdued, sometimes almost-but-not-quite in your face, I found the soundtrack to vary between decent and very good in some moments. It didn't MAKE the movie but it enhanced a good deal in my opinion. Story - 7/10 - Here is where the good points of the movie kinda start to run dry. A lot of other people would probably rate it a lot lower, with 5 or 4's if they're at least trying to be objective. Yes, the story is fairly predictable, and the fact that the movie is only around 100 minutes long doesn't do it any favors either. Here is probably where most of the legitimate hate towards this movie stems from. The creators adapted a story that had a lot more depth and philosophical insight and turned it into a somewhat generic cyborg coming of age story mixed with an evil corporation doing questionable things. The villain is also very cookie-cutter and has almost zero depth. HOWEVER, I do think that concerning this film's particular themes and narrative, a weak villain doesn't hurt it so much since its more about losing/gaining your humanity through technology than any bad guy trying to shoot you. Writing/Dialogue - 6/10 - By far the movie's weakest aspect. In fact, I believe if some more meaningful dialogue and character interactions were written into this film, it could've easily been 1 or 2 points higher on anyone's scoring system. As it is, the dialogue is shallow and fairly run-of-the-mill for about half the movie's length. Some bits of good interactions are sprinkled here and there, and thankfully that's enough to preserve the soul of the movie's central theme of human souls surviving in machine bodies, BUT not enough to give Ghost in the Shell the depth it should've inherited from the source material. Overall - I gave this movie 3.5/5 stars here, mostly because I couldn't give it a 7.5/10 which felt more appropriate to me. My advice would be to not listen to the whitewashing nonsense, because that's exactly what it is, nonsense. Also don't listen to the haters who rate this movie a 1/10 or call it shit because those people should not be reviewing anything to begin with. It is a decent movie, with great visuals and a theme that might get you thinking for a couple of days after seeing it. The acting is decent, with an above average performance from Scarlett and a good soundtrack that might hit the right spot on occasion. The only bad aspects, like I mentioned, are the film's rather short running time and weak dialogue/writing which hold it back from being truly great.