So, Ghost in the Shell seems to be pretty good

[Kolby Jack]

So, can anyone who's seen it confirm some info for me

Spoiler

is she actually the brain of a Japanese woman in scarjo's body and does the movie end with her standing over her Japanese body's grave hugging her Japanese mom

Yup.

Spoiler

The name of the Japanese woman is also revealed at the very end to be Motoko Kusanagi. ScarJo's Major is actually named "Mira Killian".

Spoiler

So... what was labeled "an obvious pseudonym" in Stand Alone Complex (because Kusanagi is a legendary Japanese sword, so having it as a name would be like having Excalibur as a name) is actually her real name which she was born with but doesn't remember. So basically the writers wanted to make her Japanese in the end but didn't realize how stupid her name would be to a Japanese person, or they were just banking on non-Japanese moviegoers not noticing. Cool. This is like John Blake's real name being Robin in The Dark Knight Rises, but maybe even worse because at least Robin is name SOME people have.

Aside from that, it sounds like my fears that the movie would focus too much on the Major's personal story are true too. How much spotlight does Section 9 actually get? At least Batou and Togusa.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

So, can anyone who's seen it confirm some info for me

Spoiler

is she actually the brain of a Japanese woman in scarjo's body and does the movie end with her standing over her Japanese body's grave hugging her Japanese mom

Yup.

Spoiler

The name of the Japanese woman is also revealed at the very end to be Motoko Kusanagi. ScarJo's Major is actually named "Mira Killian".

Spoiler

So... what was labeled "an obvious pseudonym" in Stand Alone Complex (because Kusanagi is a legendary Japanese sword, so having it as a name would be like having Excalibur as a name) is actually her real name which she was born with but doesn't remember. So basically the writers wanted to make her Japanese in the end but didn't realize how stupid her name would be to a Japanese person, or they were just banking on non-Japanese moviegoers not noticing. Cool. This is like John Blake's real name being Robin in The Dark Knight Rises, but maybe even worse because at least Robin is name SOME people have.

Aside from that, it sounds like my fears that the movie would focus too much on the Major's personal story are true too. How much spotlight does Section 9 actually get? At least Batou and Togusa.

Batou gets some decent screentime, he's an important character and his big bro relationship with Major comes across fine. But it's never his show. Togusa is introduced near the beginning and has his little "I'm 100% human" speech and then is more or less dropped off the film. He's in group shots and in the background but is rarely given anything to say or do. The rest of the Section 9 crew (Saito, Borma, Ishikawa) gets a similar deal - they're introduced for the sake of being around, but you never single them out as characters. Aramaki is the only other one that has a couple of good moments, I suspect because he's being played by Kitano and you can't have the man in your movie without being given something badass to do.

And yeah the Japanese name is mainly just there to have the Major be technically a Japanese character (in ScarJo's bod).

 

[MrBoBo]

Sitting on Rotten now.

Which is probably more than it deserves.

 

[Scarytown_v1legacy]

Well that was interesting. Earlier today it was setting at 70% before taking a noise dive to 50% in like an hour. Still ended up higher then what I was expecting. Right now it's predicted to have a soft opening, but they said the same thing about Lucy and we know how that turned out.

I'm hoping it does decent, as there's quite a few anime adaptations that I'd love to see on the silver screen. However, with the whole casting controversy on this (and apparently on Death Note as well), I wonder how Hollywood will end up navigating these waters.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sitting on Rotten now.

Which is probably more than it deserves.

It's not a bad movie, just underwhelming by comparison.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I am fundamentally opposed to live action takes on animation. I think it is perfect being anime. I would MUCH rather they poured that budget into an ACTUAL anime movie Ghost in the Shell remake. Wouldn't that have been just immaculate.


The only live action movie that didn't completely suck compared to the manga or anime it was based on was the Korean Oldboy, and even that one was terrible when it got into US hands.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Sitting on Rotten now.

Which is probably more than it deserves.

Yeah, there's a plot twist that sits at painfully awkward at best and deeply disgusting at worst. Putting that aside the general consensus is that film is just boring, lacking either interesting thrills to keep people occupied or the philosophical, existentialist musings of the source material. There's no point to it

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

we've had even more derivatives since then

The t.v series is/was supposed to be good. I haven't seen it though. I know a lot of people were upset that the movie wasn't based off of that, so maybe it was better than the movie.

 

[Samael Barghest]

From what I've heard, the story is one of those that tries to be deep but forget to lays the groundwork for anything more than serviceable. Most say that the visuals are this movie's bread and butter. But I'm not willing to sit in a theatre for 2 hours just for pretty visuals. A few have even said that this is (visually) a faithful adaptation. Which I thought was hilarious since this looks like nothing related to the Ghost In The Shell products I'm used to.

 

[maninahat]

we've had even more derivatives since then

The t.v series is/was supposed to be good. I haven't seen it though. I know a lot of people were upset that the movie wasn't based off of that, so maybe it was better than the movie.

The tv show is good (or at least one of them is, Arise isn't so good), it follows a more standard cop show kind of format, but because it takes place in this weird sci-fi world the mysteries tend to be more compelling, and they still have room for transhumanist philosophy jabber.

 

[maninahat]

Oh, looking at Rotten Tomatoes now, the score has dropped to 49%. Most critics seem to be giving it 2/5 or 3/5 sorts of scores (assuming this matters to some people).

 

[Cycloptomese]

I've seen two reviews. The one that was a huge fan of the 1995 film loved it. He said it treated the source material with respect and ... well all that crap, you get the point. The one that was unfamiliar with the source material was not as impressed, although he did say that the performances and visuals were great. He just wasn't very keen on the story.

I've never seen the original, but I'll definitely watch it as I'm a big sci-fi fan. Also, Scarlett Johansson is fairly easy on the eyes.

 

[Cycloptomese]

I'm starting to get sick of critics treating "style over substance" (at least in the early reviews), since it's kinda became the norm today (Doctor Strange I'm looking at you). I wish we'd have an action film that at least have an idea that is actually thought provoking.

That's a good point. I read an interesting take on this that referenced John Wick, in which it was pointed out that the style IS the substance. But really, there wasn't a whole lot of substance to the movie besides the initial emotional investment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed that movie quite a lot. I'm just not going to bullshit myself about any kind of societal or political significance that it had.

The only recent action movie that I can think of with any real amount of weight is Mad Max: Fury Road. It was a fantastic action movie that was dripping with commentary. I'd really like to know of others, though.

 

[Scarytown_v1legacy]

It's disappointing how actors are often expected to work out for certain roles but nobody expects the same from an actress. You seldom see any muscular actresses in action and sci-fi movies, like Vasquez from Aliens or Noomi Rapace in Prometheus. The major should have an athlete's body.

While I agree (Wonder Woman comes to mind), I think GitS has somewhat of a cheat due to the Major looking normal to blend in. I think presence > shape in this case, which I feel Scarlet is missing completely. I think somebody like Emily Blunt would have had the right demeanor for the role (ironically she was in awesome shape for Edge of Tomorrow if I remember correctly).

 

[Elijin]

I'm not against remakes if A) It's better than the original and B) It does it's own thing

"The Fly" and "The Thing" come to mind.


Stuff like this, Total Recall, Robocop e.t.c... they are inferior and cynically made. I can see from the trailer it has no nudity or blood because lowering the age rating will bring in more money, or at least that's how they perceive it.

If the original is good and still holds up then there is literally no point to these existing beyond some Hollywood chump getting some swag bags.

Except it's not a remake. It's an adaptation. The movie is a reintroduction to the franchise for western audiences that weren't interested in it(or just weren't into anime/manga at the time) when it came out almost 30 years ago.

Those things you're talking about actually are remakes, they're Hollywood movies originally made in the west, this is a Hollywood movie that is originally from Japan. It's an adaptation. There's a difference and acting like there's not beyond people seeing money(something that is done with pretty much everything Hollywood) is willful ignorance at best.

Is it as good as the original? No.
Does it have any valid reason to exist other than making easy money? No.
Does it being deemed a remake or adaption change any of this? No.

It exists to introduce the story to an entirely new audience. If you cant see that....well, that's your problem, not the movies.

Or are you some diehard anime weeb who thinks that if people don't want anime then they don't deserve any of the stories contained within?

 

[lionsprey]

so does this mean we are finally going to get a big budget american adaptation of Hentai Kamen?