Ghost in the Shell 2017, my thoughts after first watch (SPOILER ALERT)
disclaimer:
- I’m a big fan of original, 1995 anime GitS
- English is not my native language
First impression
First of all, to me, this is one of the best SF movies, at least in the last decade or two. When I saw first image with Scarlett Johansson almost a year ago when I found out new movie is in the making and saw first trailer I decided not to read/watch anything until I see the movie. No other trailers, no images from the shooting, no original 1995 movie, not even King of my castle. That could be the reason of such a good first impression but undeniably there are some shoots worth hanging on the wall, exceptional effects, manga look and feel…
The good, the bad and the ugly (SPOILER START)
in my humble opinion:
The good; there’s everything; Major jump from the building, thoughts communication, thermoptic camouflage, the dive (in the sea and hacking), water fight scene, spider tank. Almost all the best parts from the original are there and they are all great. Effects done by Weta Workshop makes it very believable. You can read more detailed scene comparison in this IGN article. It’s hard to describe all, you have to see it :)
The bad; Mira. Why? It’s Motoko Kusanagi. From start till the end. Why change it? Because of the change in the story? OK, ok, it’s not 1 on 1 copy of the original but it is not new story also. It’s some strange mix like they couldn’t decide if to keep it safe and follow the original story or do something new in that universe. I think they shouldn’t mix it. It could be “Ghost in the Shell: The origin” and then explain how it all started but then cool parts would be out of order (most of the parts from the good point from above). Some other details; manual control of the tank and when Major talk at the end and move her lips even if she is almost destroyed and we know they can communicate with their thoughts. Those are maybe realy small details but …
And the ugly; project 2571??? WTF??? where is 2501??? where is the puppet master?! where is AI?! It’s called Ghost in the Shell, not transplanted brain in the shell. This should be about artificial intelligence evolving and getting self consciousness, soul, appearance of the ghost in the shell. Are they tools, weapons or a living, thinking entity. What are their rights? This ended up transforming philosophical theme with good action to Hollywood action, fight between evil corporation and rebel tanagers and their revenge. AI could be attractive as well, especially today.
And there is whitewashing BS
I tried really hard not to get any details about the movie until I see it but I couldn’t miss this one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all against whitewashing but I never heard more about whitewashing then for Scarlett playing Major Kusanagi. For more then 20 years of my worship I never thought about that character as Asian. She is a cyborg. And when you look at original drawn character from 1995 anime what can you conclude? Compare it.
Hollywood does whitewashing but this is not it!
Having said all that, I still think this is a god damn good SF movie, best in a while but I’m counting down for Blade Runner 2049 so we’ll see how’s that gonna mess the top SF movies.
Cheers.
