Ghost in the Shell

Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk manga opus The Ghost in the Shell took off once its anime film version premiered in 1995. There were anime follow-ups in television and theaters, but this latest incarnation, Ghost in the Shell, is live-action. It's a visual accomplishment but its story could've used fine-tuning.

In the not so distant future, humanity has upgraded themselves with technology. The evil Hanka Corporation have found a way to upload human minds (Ghosts) into androids (Shells). Their first creation is Major Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson), sole-survivor of a terrorist attack. One year after the incident, she works for the counter-terrorism force Section 9 under Chief Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano). She can free-fall from buildings with ease, turn invisible and fight a room full of villains.

The android Kuze (Michael Pitt) sets out to kill Hanka officials. When Killian and her partner, Batou (Pilou Asbæk) investigate, she realizes her past isn't what it seems. Kuze has the answers to her hazy past. The evil Hanka head Mr. Cutter (Peter Ferdinando) decides to terminate her before she finds out.

Director Rupert Sanders works from a screenplay by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler and Ehren Kruger. It discusses profound themes such as reality and identity as much as its predecessors. How it chooses to discuss them may make or break the film. On one hand, there's a subplot about a garbageman (Daniel Henshall) who gets brainwashed into a Kuze sleeper agent. On the other hand, there's the revelation of Mira's true identity. The first bit is subtle and the garbageman is the best of the bit characters. The second is a bit extreme. These themes are sometimes blunted by the action, the overabundance of which blunts it even further.

How about the principal characters? Johansson is a compelling lead as Mira; she's believable as a cyborg struggling with her emotions. Her chemistry with Asbæk was fine. Speaking of which, Asbæk makes for a cool guy as Batou. Juliette Binoche provided warm moral support as Mira's chief scientist, Dr. Ouelet. Takeshi Kitano was great as Chief Aramaki. The other characters of Section 9 were just there and barely had much insight. Meanwhile, Pitt and Ferdinando were acceptable as the villains.

The technical areas are where the film impresses the most. The production, costume and makeup designers do a splendid job of recreating the source material's designs. The best accomplishments of the visual effects team are merging CGI-mechanical parts with real actors. How do they put on Batou's mechanical eyes? Mira's camouflage suit is another visual highlight. The giant holographic ads across the city were pretty nifty too. The worse effect was the obvious CGI "spider-fingers" on some random character. On the bright side, Jess Hall's cinematography really illuminate the city at night. Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe's score is OK; not exactly memorable but not bad. Kenji Kawai provides the closing credits with a redo of his much more memorable opening theme of the first movie.

Ghost in the Shell is a movie with good intentions. But it struggles to balance its melancholic and choleric tendencies. It wants to have it both ways but it's struggling with its programming. Still, at 102 minutes, it wasn't really boring. If you want a great looking sci-fi movie, this will do fine. If you want a great looking, profound, sci-fi movie, you may want to wait for Blade Runner 2049.