Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie - Movie Review

Ghost in the Shell, the new movie, is a very dumb title. Now you must excuse me, I do have a cold right now, my voice isn't 100%, but I'm gonna power through this video despite the fact that I sound like Leia in Bounty Hunter disguise. Ya dey, ya dey, you do. I'm a big fan of Ghost in the Shell. I've enjoyed it ever since the 90s. The very first film was one of the first mainstream hits of anime in America. The second film wasn't quite as good, but still enjoyable, and I always enjoyed Stand Alone Complex, the TV show. Now this newest incarnation is a bit of an oddity. It's confused a lot of people, because obviously Major Motoko Kusanagi, the main character, appears younger. She has a different appearance. And what this movie is, is a continuation of the most recent Ghost in the Shell Arise, which I enjoyed, wasn't great. Some episodes were better than others. There's only four, they're four hour long episodes. But I was excited for this movie because I thought the very last episode of this was very disappointing, so I was excited to see where it went. And in this film, we finally get to see the Major and her team truly operating as a force. Because Arise, the show, was kind of about them joining and getting to know each other. And in this movie, I was expecting to finally see them operating as a team, and I was excited for it. And I was really disappointed by this movie. Especially as a fan of Ghost in the Shell, because I know what this series is capable of. I know what they can do. I also know the series' flaws. And one of the biggest flaws that every single Ghost in the Shell movie or TV show has is way too much techno babble. The original movie, its sequel, Stand Alone Complex, Solid State Society, and the new Arise show all have long, drawn out, expository sequences that just are plain boring. And this newest film has that in spades. There are long, drawn out scenes with nothing but exposition, with static shots of people just standing there and their mouths moving, and very little human emotion added to the animation. Which is truly sad because the action sequences in this movie are fantastic. And I mean brilliantly animated. Fluid movements, terrific editing, extremely exciting action. But none of that hard work was ever given to any of the scenes where people are just simply talking. This movie shows a world in which very few people are fully human anymore. In fact, one of the main characters in the movie, Togusa, who is on their team, is human, and he constantly gets made fun of for it because almost everyone has cybernetic replacements, cybernetic enhancements of some kind. And so in some ways, you can look past the fact that these characters simply aren't acting human, they're acting more like robots. But I know for a fact, watching the incredible action sequences in this film, that they could have utilized far better animation, and a lot more hard work could have been put into the simple expository scenes. But I gotta talk about those scenes because there really are way too many of them. There's tons of people just standing there explaining the plot. In fact, half the movie feels like that. And that was majorly disappointing because I've been such a big fan of the clever and smart stories behind previous Ghost in the Shell incarnations. Basically, if you liked Arise, the show, you'll probably enjoy this movie because it's the same creators and it's about on that same level. But approaching this as a film released in theaters, because it was, it had a limited run on November 10th, 11th, and 12th right here in America, it feels more like something that belongs on TV and less like a movie. There isn't really anything to differentiate this from the Arise TV show, which was very disappointing. That being said, the action sequences truly are magnificently done. The story is sometimes very interesting. And there are some important things to be said in this film. And in a nice refreshing change of pace, you actually do learn a little bit more about Major Kusanagi and her personal life and her past. But as something that builds itself as a re-imagining of what we've already seen in the Ghost in the Shell universe, it was disappointingly very similar to everything we had seen before and not handled as well. I'm gonna give Ghost in the Shell, the new movie, a C+. Guys, thank you so much for watching. I did wanna make sure that I got this review up, despite the fact that I'm sick, because on Twitter, you guys voted this above my Amiibo Collection video as the first video to come out. I am still gonna release the Amiibo Collection video, but you guys wanted this one first. I really like that poll idea. For once, social media actually added a new feature that's really cool. Guys, thank you so much, as always, for watching. And if you have seen this movie, what were your thoughts on it? Or what were your thoughts on the most recent Arise TV show? Thanks once again, guys. You're the best. If you like this, you can click right here and get Stuckmanized.