Amph Ghost in the Shell

Yeah, I'm skipping that clip.

 

I'm avoiding seeing any addition footage as I'll be seeing the film in a few weeks.

 

The original anime actors will voice the dubbing of the Hollywood version

Nice.

 

Sort of excited about this. I told my wife Scarlett Johansson that if she made this movie then it better not suck.

 

Jan Urschel, freelance concept designer:


"Paramount Pictures game me the unique opportunity to visit the set of Ghost in the Shell as well as the art department at Weta to get a unique glimpse of the production. Inspired by the pre=production visuals and sets I tried a homage to this reimagined key scene in the upcoming movie. A blend of Hong Kong and Tokyo. Sprouting from the deep innards of the city, a new kind of tree of life standing amid the chaos that is life in this near future society...a key concept from the 1995 landmark anime carefully transplanted into the upcoming movie."

 

I've tried to avoid watching any more additional footage of the film, but the most trailer was attached to Kong Skull Island which I happened to watch over the weekend. By the newest trailer, I see they've already changed elements of the film from the original anime. Or course, it remains to be seen whether or not these changes we improve the story, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

At any rate, I love the visuals of the film and the look of ScarJo. I'm not expecting a great scifi film or even a provocative movie considering (from the trailer) the modified element/notion of "do andriods dream of electric sheep." This appears to be a more action/finding the truth type of film.

 

I too am not watching any more footage.

But for those who wish to HERE ARE THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES

 

Along with the GitS creator comes the original animated GitS director who are quite happy with ScarJo casting

 

Alright I broke down and watched the 5 minute footage. I then went out and bought my 3D IMAX ticket.

 

The overall average of reviews seems to be that this movie is good though not perfect. Weather via a ten point or percentage system it hits on around 70% to the good.

 

Saw an early screening last night. I scored it at 70% as well.

http://3tnewsreviews.blogspot.com/2017/03/ghost-in-shell-2017-review.html

 

So this is indeed a good movie. I'll cut to the chase with white washing:

Spoiler

She was asian, was kidnapped, and had her identity removed by taking her memories and putting her brain in a synthetic body.

As one review put it, it's not terribly deep but deep enough for this.

The city is quite frankly amazing looking. Height, traffic, holograms, criss crossing roads, slums and dark alleys, the very definition of cyberpunk.

The repercussions of brain-machine interface are central but they do not pause and dwell and talk it all out, instead they move everything along at a pretty brisk pace.

Now, in my mind this is not an insta-classic and aside from the amazing city it doesn't break much new ground, but people not familiar with the material may think so.

 

Yeah, inviting a stranger into your home that quickly was odd, but she did pass the kitty cat test.

 

Box Office

19 million domestic, 59 million worldwide.

 

Glad to see it tanking, not only for white washing but the director sounds like a complete tool.

 

The key question for me, certainly, is whether they did anything with this. Did it play some major part in how the film unfolded or how we should understand/appreciate it? Or was it largely just an explanation for why they put a white actress in the lead role?

 

Not to rub it in but...



Maybe a lesson for people so desperate to be offended? doubt its one that will be learnt though.

Yeah I would tend to agree with that, good but certainly not free of flaws, somewhat more ambitious than I expected without being on to Oshii's level.

One thing you could say I spose is that the film makes a rather different choice to either of the two animated ones in heading into the action quickly but then slowing down for the middle act which things do get a chance to breath. Generally I felt things picked up significantly after the first half hour or so which did feel a little cluttered without much drive to the story/characters, when the plot about the majors origin really kicked it there was obviously a bit more substance and focus to it. The villain definitely feels a little underdeveloped but honestly I think the plot away from him is much more interesting anyway and does get rather more space to breath.

Obviously a lot lifted from the films and not all of it entirely smoothly but I was happy to see the diving, tank body ripping and the garbage mans mind hack remaining as they do add substance rather than just style. Beyond that though the design work was often very interesting in its own right, the future fashion stuff especially was very original not falling back onto your typical sci fi clichés.

In terms of box office honestly I'm not too concerned as whilst I enjoyed then film I'm not sure a sequel really appeals, the kind of subtle drama of the anime is just not going to happen in a big holiywood blockbuster and as I result I think the film needs a strong more straight ahead personal drama to it which the majors origin story provides. Now that's told what else could replace it? the kind of plots the series has typical dealt with would IMHO likely end up as rather bland and dumbed down in Hollywood's hands.

 

Honestly though I'm just not sure I could see Hollywood do a story like the Puppet Master well, in the original film that depends on selling the major losing touch with her humanity which needs a very subtle hand where as the major looking into her own background can happen on a more typical Hollywood blockbuster level of drama and be effective. Perhaps if the production shifted in focus a bit? reduced the budget and aimed for a smaller market?

To go more into detail on this film...

Spoiler

The villain to me kind of felt like he might have been a late addition and honestly I think things might have been better off keeping it as more of a faceless corperation rather than an individual. As with a lot of recent blockbusters(including TFA) I got the feeling the film would have benefited from the script being worked on a little longer, some of the plot advancements and dialog felt rather clunky, I spose I do reserve a bit of judgement there as these issues do often improve with multiple viewers for me(although that will have to likely wait for the home release).

Johansson I think struggles a little early in the film where she's given very little to work with but improves greatly as the story advances I think showing again that she's very well suited for these kinds of roles, Asbæk and Batou is a good deal better than the trailers made him look both visually and character wise although ends up a little underused as things progress IMHO.

Again I don't think the film ever totally breaks with your typical more straight ahead blockbuster style but it does push beyond it at a few points, some visually interesting scenes and quiter moment plus indeed some quite graphic material like the body ripping which I didn't expect to see.