Directed by:
Rupert SandersCinematography:
Jess HallCast:
Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, Juliette Binoche, Takeshi Kitano, Rila Fukushima, Kaori Momoi, Chris Obi, Joseph Naufahu (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, "GHOST IN THE SHELL" follows Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic's advancements in cyber technology. (Paramount Pictures)
(more)Videos (15)
Reviews (11)
Shell without the ghost. The scenography, design and audiovisual performance are excellent, the cast sympathetic, but from the complex spirit of the original, only a predictable and stenciled shell about naive souls abused by the corporation remains. It doesn't matter that the screenplay literally quotes certain ideas when there is essentially nothing left of the original meditation on "being a machine" except for a dozen revenge stories. But I could let that go. No one expects that the 180 million dollar blockbuster will suffice with wordless shots of sad facades and people's faces. But what I won’t let go is the second half and the fact that Sanders is a director with a sense of effect and smooth texture, but his style lacks the essence that would bring this nice cyberpunk wallpaper to life. It could have been worse, I agree. But it could have been better, one always realizes whenever a ghost really flashes in the movie - whether in the wobbly gait of Takeshi Kitano or the sad eyes of Pilou Asbæk. If this is what the Deus Ex adaptation would look like, I would actually be quite satisfied. But Ghost in the Shell is more than just a facade.
()
Who the fuck is Rupert Sanders and why does such an artless routine artist get 150 million, solid actors and a good composer to make a boring, hopelessly unimaginative, sterile shithole full of darkened shots, uninteresting plot and logical lapses? You could do such wonders with all the glitter and jingle of those fluffy big city visuals! The inspiration from Cloud Atlas and Blade Runner is quite obvious, but completely wasted. After this disappointment, at least we know for sure that we don't want this contrived void as a sequel to Blade Runner!
()
A bit of a weaker combination of Robocop and Blade Runner... Especially when I think of the latter film, I'm struck by how dated and unsurprising Ghost in the Shell feels, while Blade Runner is still a great philosophical spectacle to ponder and still has something to say about people, humanity and other values. I quite liked the special effects, Scarlett Johansson had one and a half expressions from start to finish, but the role didn't give her more options, so okay. The action scenes weren't completely bad (maybe only the one against the walking tank or whatever it was, was terribly boring) and the music sounded interestingly atmospheric (it also wanted to remind me of Vangelis' Blade Runner), but I didn't take away any great experience from the movie theatre this time. In addition, it seemed to me that the film lasted about two and a half hours.
()
The entire time I was watching, I was thinking that I’ve waited a long time for proper cyber orgies like these. But I’ve realized that apart from gorgeous animations, perfectly edited and rendered city of the future and amazing music, it’s extremely important for a movie to have a soul. And that soul is, amongst other things, created by the actors themselves. But this time, they didn’t exactly manage to do that. Pilou Asbæk and Takeshi Kitano have absolutely amazing roles, but Scarlett Johansson is so awfully stiff that the entire movie ends up being stiff. A shame.
()
I was intrigued by the cast, which made me excited to see the film, but I was actually disappointed. There were a few interesting moments now and then, which is not enough for 107 minutes, so it ended up being average to below average. I liked Takeshi Kitano, who kept reminding me of a koala bear. But the special effects gave the whole film a cheap plastic feel to it, like a kind of action PVC theater. It's a shame because the theme had decent potential. 3*-
()
Ads