Ghost Re-imagines the Future
I won't call it a masterpiece. I refuse. Not a Hollywood-made big screen adaptation of a Japanese anime series! No way! But, I will say, it's damn close. "Ghost In The Shell" is magnificent, to say the least, on most levels. If you are unfamiliar with the story line, good; I'd say go see the film blindly and you'll appreciate it more. But, if you're one of those people who simply must do their research beforehand, I've been told you still won't be disappointed.
The film starts in the near future with Major (Scarlett Johansson), a human who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals; she is the first of her kind. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people's minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it.
The film takes place in an unnamed Asian metropolis. The scenery in the film is best described as a futuristic New York City or Hong Kong. There are cars going at lightning speeds, there are hologram advertisements everywhere, there are robots, there are humanoid robots, there are humans who look like robots, it is quite the show. At one point in the film, one struggles to decipher between what's technology and what's human.
What makes Major so unique in the film is that she is a robot who was created with a human's brain. But with that brain comes a past, a past life with memories and feelings. Throughout the movie this becomes an ongoing theme, Major is constantly getting glitches in her system trying to remind her of her past. The story is intact and compelling from the beginning. As a viewer, you can't help but empathize with her.
Along comes a new terrorist whom Major must destroy; however, this enemy proves to be more formidable than most. As the movie goes on, Major wrestles with who's her enemy and who's her friend. Much like the technology and holograms blend seamlessly in the background, her past and present blend seamlessly together. The film goes from her fighting a terrorist to her trying to find herself and who she once was.
I found the film to be nearly the perfect balance of action and story, similar to "The Matrix", but not quite as deep. Scarlett Johansson gives a great performance, as well as the entire cast. The cinematography is excellent as expected, but nothing too fancy with the camera moves. The special effects were very smooth, not too outlandish or over-the-top like many of today's action films. "Ghost in the Shell" is the best film I've seen so far this year hands down, for that reason I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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