Ghost in the Shell 2017
Hello true believers and Movie fans, Animeman73 here, it’s time for another edition of Was it really that bad? This time the subject will be Ghost in the Shell 2017.
Now, first off, I saw this movie when it was in theaters. But I needed to get it on DVD so I could watch it at home and remember. Also, having Wikipedia for this helps. Second order of business, there’s something that I need to address here.
I am well aware of the controversy involving the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the Major. And it’s all a case of much ado about nothing.
Everyone needs to take a step back from the Internet. Next, take long slow deep breaths, and calm down. The accusations of White washing are total nonsense. People need to judge the work based on the merits. That said, on with the review!
The time is the near future. The line between human and machine has become blurred. With augmentation, humans are able to improve vision, strength, and intelligence.
Hanaka Robotics, is a prominent company in this time. It has developed a secret project to integrate an artificial body, or shell, with a human mind, rather than an AI. That blurs the line between man and machine even more, and presents a ton of ethical questions.
Mira Killian, played by Scarlett Johansson, is the lone survivor of a terrorist attack. An attack that killed her parents, as she discovers, on awakening in the lab. The official story is that her body got damaged beyond repair in the attack. So, Hanaka Robotics transferred her mind to this shell. Hm, seems a little too convenient a story to me.
Company CEO Cutter, played by Peter Ferdinando, has plans for her. He assigns her to be an anti-terrorism operative, for Section 9. Despite the objections of Killian’s designer, Dr. Ouelet, played by Juliette Binoche.
A year later, Mira has attained the rank of Major in Counter-terrorism unit Section 9.
She works alongside a wide-ranging cast of characters. Batou, played by Pilou Ashbeck, a former Special Forces operative with a love of dogs. Togusa, played by Chin Han, the only organic member of the team. And finally, Chief Daisuke Aramaki, played by “Beal” Takeshi Kitano. An elderly gentleman who’s got some badass left in him.
While Killian has achieved much in her time with Section 9, she’s a troubled soul. She has no memory of her past. That’s a problem right there, without a past, how does one know which way is right and wrong?
She also keeps having hallucinations that Ouelet dismisses as glitches. Wait, if these glitches have been going on for a year, then something’s wrong here! Section 9 thwarts a terrorist attack. One on a Hanaka Robotics conference with the head of the African Federation, at a Geisha tea house.
This brings up one of the recurring problems with this movie, too much dependence on CGI. Now don’t get me wrong, CGI is good, when it’s once in a while. But it’s like candy, too much of it will spoil the proverbial meal. There needs to be a substantive amount of story and character development. This seems to be one of several problems that pops up in Hollywood.
But back to the review, Killian destroys a robotic Geisha, after it kills a hostage. Very reminiscent of a scene from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
At Hanaka Robotics, an autopsy gets performed by one Dr. Dahlin, as played by Anamaria Marinca. It’s learned the Geisha got hacked by a mysterious entity known as Kuze. Against the protests of Dr. Dahlin, Killian does an unauthorized dive into the Geisha’s AI for answers. In response, Kuze attempts to counter-hack Mira. But knowing there might be a contingency with such a risky dive, the Major had Batou ready. He pulls her out of the dive, but not before she gains valuable information. They trace the hack to a Yakuza nightclub.
Ah, the Yakuza, it’s nice to see in the future they’re still a ray of sunshine and giggles. The nightclub, no surprise, is the typical den of sleaze. Everything has the M.O. of the notorious Asian criminal syndicate. After dealing with some of the thugs at the club, Batou and the Major discover a room with a nasty explosive device. The device causes severe damage to the Major’s body, and destroys Batou’s eyes, as indicated by his screams of pain.
After the fiasco, Cutter threatens to shut down Section 9, unless Aramaki keeps the Major in line. Aramaki, shows why he's still got plenty of badass left in him. He reminds Cutter that he answers to the Prime Minister, not him. Shots fired; shots fired!
That night, Kuze tracks down Section 9 Hanaka advisor, Dr. Dahlin and kills her. Section 9 links her death with several deceased senior Hanaka Robotics researchers. Based on the pattern of the killings, they learn that Dr. Ouelet is next on Kuze’s list. Said antagonist takes control of two sanitation workers. Hacking into people’s minds, yikes! The two smash the Doctor’s car. But Section 9 arrives in time to save her. Batou, who now has a pair of cybernetic eyes, kills one of the workers. The other gets subdued by a repaired Major.
Section 9 interrogates the worker, and gets past his false memories. Kuze takes control and speaks through the worker. Kuze then compels the worker to commit suicide. But not before Togusa traces the signal of his hack.
The signal, leads to a secret location. Section 9 discovers a large group of humans. All mentally linked by a makeshift signal network. Killian gets captured, and Kuze reveals a surprise truth. He was a failed previous test subject for the Hanaka project that created Killian. Thereby, throwing doubt on Dr. Ouelet’s claim that she was the only one used for the project. And the plot doth thicken. He encourages her to stop taking her medicine, and question her memories. Kuze then frees the Major and flees. A very good plot twist!
Killian confronts Dr. Ouelet, and discovers Kuze was right. It turns up, there have been ninety-eight other subjects for Hanaka’s experiment. Worse, the memories given to her are false. That puts a damper in one’s sense of self, ho boy! Cutter orders Killian's execution, since she’s become a liability to him. Okay, greed is one thing, but this is spiteful!
Killian gets brought back to Hanaka Robotics. Cutter orders Ouelet to inject Killian with a lethal toxin. Instead, Ouelet gives her a number, and frees her.
As Killian flees, Cutter kills Dr. Ouelet. Methinks there’s more than corporate greed going on around here!
Cutter then informs Aramaki, and Section 9, that Killian killed Dr. Ouelet, and has gone rogue. He orders that they find and kill the Major. Cutter you’re a filthy little liar-liar pants on fire!
Killian follows the address the deceased Dr. Ouelet gave her, to an apartment. There, she meets a widowed Japanese woman. She learns about the woman’s daughter, Motoko Kusanagi. She ran away from home a year ago, and got arrested. According to reports, she took her own life while in custody.
Doesn't that last part seem a little too convenient? Killian leaves, promising to visit again.
She then makes contact with Aramaki. This allows Cutter to eavesdrop on their communication, and learn what they know. In turn, Killian receives news of Dr. Ourlet’s death, and she’s blamed for it.
Cutter decides that Section 9 and Killian are too close to a dirty little secret he seems eager to protect. So, he sends some of his men to assassinate Batou, Togusa and Aramaki.
The Section 9 chief is the first target. But the head of Section 9 is no fool, he’s anticipated what’s coming, and has warned his people ahead of time.
When ambushed, he uses his briefcase to protect himself from bullets. Then he turns the tables and kills his ambushers. Thus proving, at his age, he’s still a wily and dangerous badass. One great line from him was as he was about to finish off his last ambusher. “Never send rabbits to kill a fox.”
Togusa and Batou, warned of the ambush, proceed to take their assailants out too.
Killian meanwhile, follows her emerging memories. It leads her to an abandoned building in a high-crime neighborhood. There, she and Kuze uncover the truth. Both of them were anti-augmentation radicals.
They spent their time writing their manifestos, and stirring up trouble. Then one night, Cutter and his men came, and kidnapped them. The CEO of Hanaka Robotics then used them for his experiments. Harvesting humans like they're crops? Cutter, you are one sick so and so!
Cutter deploys spider tanks to end Kuze and Kilian. The machines try to take Kuze down. Killian lands on it, and rips out it’s motor control center. This comes at the cost of one of her cybernetic arms.
Suffering from mortal wounds, Kuze invites Killian to come with him. He explains, “There is no place for us here.”
Killian refuses, and explains, “I’m not ready to leave, I belong here.”
Kuze tells her he will always be in her ghost, and then fades out. A Hanaka sniper takes Kuze out. But before they can kill Killian, Batou kills them instead. Batou and Section 9 then rescue her.
Meanwhile, Aramaki hunts down Cutter. With Mira’s consent, he executes the CEO for his crimes.
The next day, repaired, Killian has embraced her memories as Motoko Kusanagi. She reconnects with her mother, then returns to work at Section 9, a better person.
Now it’s time to ask the big question. Ghost in the Shell 2017, was it really that bad?
When compared with Ghostbusters 2016, not as much. Scarlett Johansson did a fair job as Killian.
Now, nothing against Pilou Ashbeck, who did a good job as Batou. But there's one version of Batou that was the best to me. That's the one dub voiced by legendary voice actor, Richard Epcar.
No offense against Takeshi Kitano. But it was hard to read, and keep up with the English subtitle translations from Japanese.
Here are my three biggest complaints with the movie.
First, as I stated, they depended a little too much on CGI. That seems to be a bad habit that’s only worsened in Hollywood over the years. Which speaks to a lack of ability to tell good stories with good characters. That’s not a good look for Hollywood, and part of why so many people are turning away. CGI is like sugar, you can only have so much of it. There needs to be story and characters for the meat, potatoes, and veggies.
Second, the breathy, whispery dialogue. Now, I recognize that in some situations it’s necessary. But there was a little too much of it in Ghost in the Shell 2017. Hello, for God’s sake speak up please? You are actors, you’re supposed to know how to project your voice. Speak up, so we can all hear you!
Third, this ties in to my first complaint. In fairness, there were some great plot twists. Peter Ferdinando’s character of Cutter was a great antagonist. Ruthless, calculating, and one who had actual motive for what he did. No, “I’m doing this because I’m evil, muwhahahaha,” kind of stuff, thank goodness!
They could’ve explored Kilian, or rather, Motoko’s past, a little more. The scriptwriters could've delved into the relationship between Kuze and her. Also, they could’ve shown some of Aramaki and Togusa as well as Batou. The fact they didn't do that was disappointing to me.
But despite those complaints, here is my answer. Ghost in the Shell 2017, was it really that bad? Well, no, I’d say it was more, meh! It was an okay movie, but nothing to write home about. There’s a lot more they could’ve done with this movie, but didn't. Quite disappointing to be honest. Though having a new version of the original Ghost in the Shell movie theme was a nice twist. In conclusion, Ghost in the Shell 2017 really wasn’t that bad.
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