Ghost in the Shell 2017
This movie didn’t get great reviews when it came out and didn’t do well in theaters despite the big cost of production. It isn’t something I would watch, but I got a free digital copy and figured why not. It is at least the third time Scarlett Johansson has played some kind of robot (Her and Under the Skin). It is described as a cyberpunk movie, so kind of like Blade Runner. Set in the future, people can get artificial enhancements and the line between robot and person is blurring. Scarlett’s character takes that one step further in that only her brain is human and she has been built to be a weapon. So she is kind of like Robocop, but it seems to be serious. Someone is killing the executives at the company that built her and the police force in Japan where she works is trying to find the culprit.
The movie is based on an anime series, but since I am not a fan of anime, I don’t know anything about that. It has a neat visual style, which at times was a little confusing since I was playing a UHD version of the movie over a barely adequate internet connection and getting some pauses and pixellation anyway. But the lines and the acting can be pretty stiff, maybe in a comic book style. Johansson’s mostly human partner does most of the worst acting and his character development seems to be that he likes beer and dogs. There should be better action, maybe, with better fights and chases. So what you end up with is a bunch of technobabble and some bad guys you don’t really get to know for the most part plus the unraveling of a mystery that isn’t that compelling. The whole thing feels like a movie designed by committee, mostly lacking heart or any real reason to make it. One thing that bothered me was when robots would be working on repairing the main character, the movements seemed very simple and repetitive, like a sippy bird almost. However, it isn’t terrible. It moves pretty quickly and is neat to look at.
Written: 10 Nov 2019
Owned on: Digital