By Parker Sublette
Staff Writer
Ghost in the Shell is a befitting title of a film with a good looking exterior but once you look inside, it’s empty.
Ghost in the Shell is visually beautiful film that is made better by great acting and an interesting concept. However, the film gets bogged down with questionable casting and a boring antagonist. The film also lacks any sort of deeper meaning which leads to an overall mediocre film.
The film was written by Jamie Moss and directed by Rupert Sanders. Ghost in the Shell had a budget of $110 million and made $59 million in its opening weekend. The film is based on the famous Japanese manga “Ghost in the Shell” by Shirow Masamune.
Read more about the cast and crew
The film follows the plot of Major (Scarlett Johansson), a cybernetically enhanced human built to stop dangerous criminals, but as the plot progresses Major begins to discover a conspiracy centered around her and her creation.
Ghost in the Shell is visually mesmerizing, first of all the fantastical and futuristic cyber city in which the film takes place not only looks real and believable but also beautiful and dazzling. On top of gorgeous environments the CGI itself (characters, action sequences, etc…) is just as stunning and only adds to the film’s visuals.
Photos: Ghost in the Shell stills and promotional images
While the characters themselves were only somewhat interesting, the acting performance by the brings most of them to life. The best acting comes from the characters Batou (Pilou Asbæk) and Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano) who despite being side characters, end up being the most entertaining, so much so that they take attention from the main character.
Ghost in the Shell is at its core a sci-fi film that is based on one of the most famous pieces of science fiction. While the film’s concept is not original (since it is a film adaptation), the concept from which it is based is amazingly unique and important to sci-fi as a genre. Being able to watch this original concept take life on the big screen is quite fantastic.
Despite a few strong characters and acting performances, one of the most important characters fall flat, specifically, the antagonist. The antagonist, Kuze (Michael Pitt), has an interesting backstory and compelling motives for his actions. But ultimately, Kuze is poorly portrayed and comes across as a boring and 2-dimensional character.
While the film is based originally on a Japanese work that heavily featured Asian culture, characters, and locations. The new adaptation fails to replicate this, mainly because of the casting choice of Scarlett Johansson as the lead role. While she does a great job in the film she simply doesn’t fit the role, as it is meant for someone of Asian descent. This failure on casting does not adversely affect the film’s overall performance, it does put a bit of a damper on its connection to the original work.
The original work has a very important message at its core about what it means to be human. The new Ghost in the Shell film seems to lack any such message or even attempts to hint at it. It seems as though any opportunity for a deeper message was instead ignored to put in more fantastical CGI and action purely for aesthetics sake, leaving the whole film somewhat flat in terms of cinema.
Check out other viewers opinions
While Ghost in the Shell does have an uninteresting villain, a whitewashed cast, and lack a deeper meaning. It’s balanced out by the great visuals, engaging acting, and an interesting concept, leading to an overall middle of the ground film.
Ghost in the Shell is rated PG-13, was released March 31, and is showing in theatres worldwide.
Leave a Reply