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Rating: 2 out of 5
I am a huge anime lover. I started watching anime back in the Toonami era with Tom. You best believe I was all about DBZ and Gundam Wing. I even try to go to anime conventions. My favorite one is WonderCon. Now, there are two anime movies that are like the OG and most influential in this genre. They are Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Those two anime films rank in the top 5 or 10 of the best anime ever. They should be untouchable.
Hollywood has a habit of making anime films into live-action films and fucking them all up. The case in point was Dragon Ball Evolution, which was a complete and utter disaster. How about Fist of the North Star? What about Knights of the Zodiac? Hollywood has a way of just fucking up great anime and pissing off all fans. When they announced that Ghost in the Shell would be made into a live-action film, I thought, okay, it might work. When Scarlett Johansson was announced as the lead role, I was disappointed because, once again, we have a white woman playing an Asian role. I’ll get into more of this.
Directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, and Ehren Kruger, Ghost in the Shell is based on the beloved Japanese manga, which was written by Masamune Shirow. Here is the low down of this film. In the near future, things will change significantly with humanity. The majority of humans have decided to become augmented with cybernetics, or they decided to become machines like the Terminator, where they enhanced their vision, strength, and intelligence. In this world, Hanka Robotics is the world leader in this area and has developed a mechanical body, aka a “shell,” that will have the ability to integrate a human brain rather than an AI one. In these terms, shit will change forever, and people will never die. Mira Killian (Johansson), the sole survivor of a cyber-terrorist attack, is selected as a test subject after her body was obliterated beyond belief. With her new body, Killian becomes a counter-terrorism operative.
In a year, this homegirl Killian has risen to the rank of Major in the anti-terrorist bureau Section 9. She is partnered with Batou (Asbæk) and Togusa (Han) under Chief Daisuke Aramaki (Kitano). The team is the best of the best, and in the opening and most iconic scene in anime history, they stop a terrorist attack on a Hanka business conference where Killian destroys a rogue mechanical killer and jumps out the window before disappearing. When the crew learns that the assassin was hacked by an unknown entity known as Kuze, Killian goes against orders and decides to dive into the AI, looking for answers. When Killian is about to be hacked, it sets off a chain of events that will lead the team to a new answer of how the world will change.
Let’s talk about the bad of this film. First, the casting. As I stated before, Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese anime. The main character is of Asian descent, and Hollywood hired a white woman. You telling me they couldn’t find anyone who would be good for this role. This makes it feel like there are no roles safe for specific people who struggle to get roles. As the great Paul Mooney said on the Chappelle Show, “What if Meryl Streep was going to play Harriet Tubman?” Shit is crazy. Now, there are shows like Shogun that show others can carry shows and movies.
Let’s be real; I always find it annoying when live-action movies sway away from the main storyline. If the anime was a banger, all you really need to do is copy and paste. People might not like who is starring in the film, but at least you can tell the story right. I think the anime film is an hour and twenty minutes or something around that. This film added on a little time but seemed to stay true to the story line which I appreciate. The second you go off track, I’m looking at you, Netflix’s Death Note, you fuck it all up, and people become pissed. The story was fine, but the character development could’ve used more work. This made the film seem bland. Sometimes, it’s best to just leave the classics alone and not mess them up.
Now, on to the good of this film. The visual effects are great. They are high quality, and you know what, that is how they should look if coming from a Japanese anime. I say go balls to the wall with the visuals because Japanese anime has the best futuristic imagery known to man. This film made sure to pay some respect to the visuals. Some of the most iconic scenes in the anime were brought to life, and I applaud them. From the falling out of the window to the tank scene, it was all amazing.
With the visuals, the action sequences were top-notch. That is one of the primary reasons you might watch this film. You know, anime has some great action sequences, and this film has them. I give it respect for having the scenes that made the anime great. If you left out any of the major action sequences in this film, everyone would’ve rioted and burned every copy that was ever owned.
Hollywood, I beg of you to stop making live-action anime films. No matter what budget you have, you seem to make it terrible. How is it that the Japanese studios make far better and more compelling live-action films with far superior special effects than you? Maybe it’s because they stick to the source materials and actually care about the product and history behind the anime series rather than looking at it as a money grab. The visual effects and the action scenes are top-notch and are the major highlights of this film. The rest of the film can be left behind. The controversy around this film with whitewashing is a significant downgrade of this film. Watch this film, but watch the original first.
