Ghost in the Shell Review: 6/10

“Ghost in the Shell” is a live-action remake of the similarly-named manga by Shirow Masamune. The trailers, which featured rather intricate world-building and semi-thrilling action scenes, were indicative of the film’s potential. I cannot speak for the source material, though I know it is hailed as a “classic”. However, after watching many live-action adaptations of best-selling manga tank, my expectations were kept low for this movie. Expectedly, the live action movie Ghost in the Shell had beautiful graphics, detailed world-building, action scenes that ranged from confusing to decent – but I could not tell this was adapted from a manga that was nothing short of a masterpiece. There wasn’t much depth or charisma in the characters. Simply put, Ghost in the Shell was an empty shell.

Plot - 5/10

Humans retain their mind and soul, but embrace technology and have “upgrades” (e.g. Batou’s robotic eyes after he was injured in an explosion, or a character upgrading his liver so he can always have the last call). Of course, this all makes for a very clear conflict: where is the line drawn? What can we not upgrade or enhance? The Major, or Mokoto, the protagonist of the film, stands on this very line between human and technology. Only her brain remains human, while her entire body is synthetic – supposedly giving her the best of both worlds.

The plot promises to focus on her battle between her identity and technology (please note, they promised). The film essentially wants to say: the human part of us is a strength, not a weakness. This storyline had so much potential – but it was rather superficially explored. She was fed fake memories to make her a better weapon. When Dr. Quelet, the creator of The Major, set our protagonist free after being caught, the scientist was shot dead and the perpetrator laments about human weakness. It doesn’t seem like there is much thinking needed required on the viewer’s part. Additionally, after all the bright lights, fight scenes and her quest to find a terrorist named Kuze, her struggle for her identity seems like an afterthought.

It is later revealed Kuze was a failed experiment before our protagonist. His character was mostly a functional one in the film – to let The Major realise her memories were taken away from her and Hanka Robotics wasn’t an angel. But… so what? Okay, evil futuristic corporation is evil – what’s new? From the onset, they monopolised robotic upgrades, and our protagonist was hailed as a miracle – it’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to not see this coming. It was honestly surprising to see her SURPRISED there were failed experiments before her. They literally succeeded in transplanting a human brain into a body of metal.

Any fear about a world where humanity is not seen as a virtue is entirely dispelled when the ending rolls about. Essentially, the government finds out about all this and kills Cutter (the guy behind all these experiments in the first place). And that’s about it. The film seems to simply amount to this - you can’t trust corporations. Everything goes back to normal – The Major continues fighting and Hanka Robotics is probably going to make more of her. Oh, she finds her lost mother too. The ending made everything come together so easily, and killed any impending doom felt by the viewer. This made the show seem more fantasy than a dystopian thriller or a warning of the usage of technology. And as a film adapted from a manga that banks its money on the theme of identity, dystopia and doom – this ending leaves the viewer very confused.

However, taken into account that the film is only 107 minutes, large and convoluted themes like identity may be challenging to develop. Though predictable, the plot does reel the viewer in at certain points. Who exactly is Kuze? Did she have a past? What are those glitches she keeps experiencing? They didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat for the entire duration, but it was sufficiently interesting to keep me from walking out of the cinema. There weren’t any gaping plot holes or anything downright absurd, so I believe the plot gets a very average score.

World-building - 8.5/10

Let’s talk about the good parts of the film too. Personally, I was very impressed by the world-building. There was a lot of attention paid to detail. With the premise of humans working towards combining the best parts of human and robot – our brain and a synthetic body – it sounds like a very plausible future for humanity.

The huge holographic fish swimming around the city, multi-coloured bytes gliding across skyscrapers like ribbons and impressive-looking circuits were very aesthetically-pleasing. Creepy geisha robots, huge holograms towering over the skyline – just really nice to look at. I don’t know how else to illustrate the world in words.

There were areas untouched by technology, referred to briefly as lawless zones. A mother is seen carefully lighting her stove with a match. Cemeteries are now multi-storeyed. The juxtaposition gave this almost-fantasy world a realistic touch: not everyone has the same “privileges” and there are definitely still outcasts even in the distant future. Though the buildings look run-down in the lawless zones, and the standard of living less classy, we see children excitedly running down corridors. It seems much less complicated as well, away from the battles, corruption and identity crises. You can’t help but ask yourself: which world would you rather live in?

Pardon the fight scene going on, but here you can see a building belonging to the “lawless zone” beside the vibrant cityscape. It seems extremely out of place and appears in our peripheral vision, a metaphor for how forgettable the lawless zones are to the cities.

Action - 6/10

As a whole, the action was rather muted – and expectedly so, since this was meant to be more of a thriller than an action-packed movie. There were some decent fight scenes here and there, a few cool moves thrown in occasionally. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t terrible either.

The film begins with a rather interesting fight scene, when the creepy geisha robot suddenly glitches while pouring tea for her owner. The tea begins to spill over the cup in his hand, and you see this:

Next, the most memorable would probably be the last fight scene with a spider tank when The Major saves Kuze. Just a split second before the tank blasts Kuze into pieces, The Major jumps on it and begins pulling the command centre off the tank. As her synthetic body begins to split apart (her arm falls off too) trying to tear metal, I was squirming in my seat while rooting for her.

Other than this, the creepy geisha and a quick brawl in the nightclub, the other scenes are mostly a blur. Thus, the fight scenes are competent, but forgettable for the most part.

Character Development/ Characters - 5/10

Most of the other characters do not receive as much screen time or only serve a functional role, so I’ll mostly be talking about The Major.

Her development is rather meh. She’s rather stoic, which fits her whole “I’m 90% cyborg” thing, but she comes off as just flat. A lot of emotional depth seems missing, and the plot didn’t help by steering most of the attention away from her battle with identity.

The other characters are simply functional, or have minor development. E.g. Batou as a thug with a softer, more caring side. Cutter was just this cookie-cutter (pun intended) evil, greedy, heartless corporate character. The moment you can summarise most of the characters in one line, it means there isn’t much to them.

In conclusion, Ghost in the Shell is kind of, sort of, semi-decent as a standalone piece. Essentially, it is a mediocre, borderline messy sci-fi film. It lacks a lot of depth in comparison to what the source material promised, but then again it is only a 107-minute film – we cannot expect the same degree of depth as the manga. However, the graphics and the storyline itself are its saving grace.

Overall verdict: eh, I mean, why not? Unless you have other cooler movies to watch, or a life to tend to.