Language - English/Japanese
Director - Rupert Sanders
Run Time - 1 hour, 46 minutes
Genre - Sci-Fi/Action
Starring - Scarlett Johansson
Ghost in the Shell is a brilliant movie visually, but if visual beauty was all there was to a movie, every Terrence Malick movie would be a hit. Sadly, there is hardly any substance to the light show, and the plot becomes incredibly predictable as the film continues.
The movie is based in a futuristic Japan, where almost all humans are enhanced with cybernetics in place of various body parts. Scarlett Johansson plays Major Motoko Kusanagi, a completely cyber-enhanced individual whose only human connection is her brain. She is part of Section 9, a counter-terrorism organization which pursues threats in the homeland. The movie starts off with Section 9 being in pursuit of a cyber-terrorist called Koze, and it all whirlwinds from there.
Scarlett Johansson is a phenomenal actor, no wonder she's the highest paid female actor in the industry, but for me, she didn't deliver a convincing performance this time around. None of the other characters were given any depth. This movie had the capacity to do so much more, it fell short quite glaringly. And not for the lack of source material, as the movie and the characters are based upon three full-length mangas (Japanese comic books)
The futuristic description of Japan looks amazing, and the graphics as well as the cinematography was spot on, but with barely any plot to accompany, the movie fails miserably. Could be a one-time watch though for the visual treat.
My Rating - 6.5/10
