Ghost In The Shell- Review
A little later than promised to review this one. I had already read reviews and seen scores that this movie was disappointing but I wanted to make up my own opinion about it and see whether I'd have one of those unpopular opinions about it. Unfortunately that isn't the case and this movie was a let down. This film was directed by Rupert Sanders and featured the talents of Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt and Pilou Asbæk.
Originally taken from the anime, this film follows the futuristic idea of humans becoming more like robots and an original race of humans dwindling in an ever growing, technological world.
The performances: Look, Scarlett Johansson as Major was nothing special. This isn't one of her best roles and quite frankly, it was a forgettable one. I felt tired every time she appeared (which was always) because even though her personality isn't meant to be enthusiastic, bright and bubbly, she honestly appeared so bored. By the middle section of this movie, I felt my attention begin to waver because it wasn't doing anything for me and I was pretty disappointed that she couldn't do anything to save this. Definitely not a role I'd have highlighted on my resume. Michael Carmen Pitt as Kuzo, the antagonist wasn't that special either. I didn't even know he existed until I saw this movie and I have no idea what his other roles are like but it's pretty debatable as to whether they're good or not. I did actually feel like we weren't getting to know him enough. Maybe instead of focusing most of the film on other things that didn't matter so much, we may have had the opportunity to get a better look. Either the movie was so bad that I wasn't paying attention or any other reason, but I felt Kuzo's appearance to be brief and with no gain.
Pilou Asbæk as Batou reminded me of Kieffer Sutherland in the Lost Boys for some strange reason. If anything, I think I was more interested in his appearance in this film because he just seemed to incorporate his abilities more comfortably.
The Cons: While aesthetically pleasing to the eye with surreal and beautiful cinematography courtesy of Jess Hall, a movie can not only rest on it's appearance and good looks. I felt like this movie really tanked and left me wishing I hadn't seen it because I was so disappointed. The acting was bland, sometimes the plot had me at a loss and the duration was nearly two hours long. In that time they had room to use it to their advantage but didn't succeed. Afterwards dad and I just looked at each other and said one thing "...meh."
This movie isn't really a boredom buster, nor something I see anyone getting a real kick out of so if you were thinking of avoiding it, keep doing what you're doing. Otherwise, it's more of a give or take really. It exists but you don't even have to look at it.
Score: 4/10.