#719 – Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Film review #719

Director: Rupert Sanders

SYNOPSIS: In the near future, where humans with cybernetic implants are commonplace, Major Mira Killian and the counter-terrorism unit Section 9 is investigating a series of terrorist attacks by someone known only as Kuze, a vast conspiracy unravels with ties to Mira’s past…

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Ghost in the Shell is a 2017 film based on the Ghost in the Shell manga, and a partial remake of the 1995 film. The story revolves around a series of terrorist attacks by an entity known only as Kuze, and the attempts of Section 9 to stop them. This ‘remake’ changes a lot of of the story, and only aims for accuracy in recreating a few of the iconic scenes which, it does, but they’re not really adding anything to them. They are always going to be overshadowed by the original scenes, and you’re never really interested in seeing those moments in live-action. The plot itself is changed a fair amount: pacing and the general strokes are the same with Section 9 pursuing a mysterious terrorist, but the players and details are changed, and a more personal connection to the Major is weaved into it. The story is the weaker element of this film: it constantly feels like it’s been simplified to appeal to a more general (Western) audience, but the lack of depth makes it stall more often than not. The more philosophical and reflective moments are somewhat swapped out with opting to humanise the Major (renamed from Motoko Kusanagi to Mirla Killian) is not able to fill that gap.

The big contention with this film is/was the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the Major, and she…is pretty much Scarlett Johansson. her character is fairly in keeping with the original: cold, distant, focused, but the added story elements that try to humanise her and again a bit muddled. The rest of the characters I think are pretty good, and capture their essence pretty well, even they don’t get too much focus. But yes, I don’t think the casting is this film’s big problem. The aesthetics are in keeping with the original, full of neon-lit skyscrapers and holograms that look nice, but again, while this was cool in 1995, does it really have that same impact in 2017? After films like The Matrix (which was also partly inspired by Ghost in the Shell), this whole cyberpunk, digital aesthetic has evolved, as has our cultural understanding about the effect of these technologies on our humanity, and it feels like this remake just doesn’t really keep up with that. There’s plenty of action scenes that stick close to the original as mentioned, but the CG does show it’s limitations when characters are in motion.

Ghost in the Shell is a decent enough action film with some imagination and invention, but fans of the franchise will feel short-changed by a lack of depth and only the recreation of iconic moments which feels like they’re just being used for their iconography, rather than bringing them to life in a new and exciting way. The story is weak, and doesn’t plunder the depths of the original, and there’s a constant feeling that it isn’t offering anything new or exciting.