Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Ghost in the Shell'

Written by Mike Cervantes

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The original 1995 anime feature film version of Ghost in the Shell is remembered as a cinematic achievement, and for many good reasons. Alongside Ninja Scroll and Akira, it was one of the first films to make Japanese anime a viable property in places other than its nation of origin. It is a police drama with a female lead, whose circumstances and agency have nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. It changed the identity of the cyberpunk genre, taking it from the realms of films like Blade Runner and Total Recall, and inspiring films like The Fifth Element, The Matrix, and Lucy, a recent movie starring this film’s lead actress, Scarlett Johansson.
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But perhaps the most important thing that the original film brings to the cinematic table is that it is a perfect study of 'show, don’t tell,' environment based storytelling. The film itself is only an hour long, and merely illustrates a caseload taken on by Chief Taramaki of section 9, a division of the prime minister’s police force which specializes in crimes related to the hacking of cybernetic brains that are now possessed by 50% of the population. After an incident involving a civilian driving a garbage truck, they learn that the hacking is the responsibility of an entity known as 'The Puppet Master,' who is revealed as an artificial intelligence released by the American military under the codename 'Project 2501.'

All this is filtered through the perspective of its lead, Makoto Kusanagi, who is 100% mechanical, except for her 'ghost,' a trade-name for the human soul in this continuity. She doesn’t remember anything about her past, but puts those emotions completely aside so she can efficiently do her work as the lead of Division 9’s task force. She is a human, wearing the mask of a cyborg, hiding behind the mask of her title, often being referred to as just 'The Major.' Her link to her human emotions is often severed. She rarely even speaks except to her confidant, the still-mostly human Sergeant Batou. When it is revealed that The Puppet Master is unprecedentedly an A.I. that has gained its own 'ghost,' or human sentience, Makoto sees within it an opportunity to answer some of her own existential questions, and in the third act of the film, offers to merge data with the entity, for no other reason than it would give her unique breed of mankind a bid at evolution.

In the span of this single anime-illustrated police investigation, the film uses its domestic themes to ask a whole intro to psychology’s-class worth of questions, making it at both times a basic and standout representation of the cyberpunk genre it brought further to the mainstream. This immediately makes the prospect of an American live-action remake of the film disconcerting. Modern day Hollywood is not exactly known for its subtlety. Its final iteration and release was pumped forward to 2017 over the usual concerns: specifically that an American movie based on an anime property did not have Asian actors in the film’s lead roles. The re-make furthers the confusion by actually being a Chinese co-production, with Dreamworks and director Avi Arad splitting its responsibilities with the Shanghai Film Group Corporation.

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If only that were the only way this film tried to confuse that issue. Johansson’s version of The Major actually begins her film life with an American name: Mira Killian. Rest assured this is the same character, and her identity as Mokoto Kusanagi is revealed in exactly the way you would expect. The writers obviously intended this as a way to add the audience to the mystique of their casting decision, but it only comes off as adding insult to injury towards that issue. She is once again involved with an investigation into Project 2571, which takes the more direct narrative path of revealing The Major as the last successful experiment in an illegal operation conducted by Hanka Robotics CEO Cutter (Peter Ferinando). This project stole the ghosts from several runaway teens, and gave them new identities and false memories to cover up their own unethical practice. The Major frequently diverges from her Section 9 work, towards the concern of Batou (Pilou Asbaek), to continue to hack into and engage with a ghost revealed to be a remnant of the experiment named Hideo Kuze (Michael Pitt), who shambles around in a mostly broken shell.
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The film does everything it can to link it to the original film. It makes a point to insert iconic scenes like the previously mentioned garbage truck scene, a scene involving The Major and Batou on a boat, and the third act battle with a mechanical spider mech. An actual good casting decision was made on behalf of the film’s origins, as legendary Japanese character actor 'Beat' Takeshi is in the role of Chief Aramaki, who speaks only in Japanese, and plays his part with an intrigue that ironically succeeds in making him an interesting character without too much dialogue. The cyber-Tokyo portrayed in the trailers is purveying through the film, which is admittedly a fantastic visual, despite the fact it takes away from the more humble, rustic landscape of the anime original.

Ultimately, however, the success of any installment of this franchise hangs upon the characterization of the Major. The first thing you’d notice about Johansson in the role is that her acting is plain-faced and wooden throughout. This in itself isn’t a deal breaker, as the character of Major Kusanagi can be like that at times. The film even went out of its way to take themes from the larger Ghost mythos to fill in her part, like a scene where The Major visits a brothel, simply to touch another woman’s face for tactile feedback. What’s missing from the equation though, is the character’s innate motivation. The anime version of the Major is a soldier first, a woman second, and a ghost third. Johansson’s version is far too occupied with discovering her origin to convey the same level of strength. There’s enough in the movie as a whole to allow the viewer to immerse and connect with this version of the character, but there’s not enough inside the internals of this film to allow the same level of appreciation for her struggle.

This movie isn’t worth watching. I’m sure a lot of people will walk into this movie without knowing about its source material and be pleased, if a little confused, with the self-contained world it conveys. However, this version of Ghost in the Shell ultimately fails because it doesn’t do anything to add to a universe that both already exists and handles its very deep and compelling themes in a way that is not only good, but absolutely perfect. You could stand to have just a little anime in your life. Skip this and watch the originals.

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