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Ghost in the Shell may not have started the cyberpunk genre at all, but when evaluating what would be the most influential cyberpunk... Nay, the most influential sci-fi movies of all time, it's pretty damn hard to pass up this movie. It's inspired many many works since its release from The Matrix to (James Cameron's) Avatar to Perfect Dark to even Bungie's obscure title, Oni. Probably only Blade Runner has been more influential in the sci-fi cinema space.
From a technical standpoint, this movie still holds up pretty well, featuring the same gorgeous attention to detail that distinguished Cowboy Bebop. Sound design is a bit generic but otherwise fits the scenes pretty damn well. The voicework though... This is where we come to one of the first blemishes with the film. At times, the voice lines quite literally feel like they're being read off a piece of paper in a flat and sort of hurried manner and it does a lot to break immersion. And don't get me wrong. Sometimes, that's exactly the line delivery that's needed for some characters, but for others, it makes no sense at all.
There's also a fair few times where the shot just kind of... Lingers just a little too long, making it kinda eyebrow raising. Ok, the characters have spoken their lines for this scene. Why is the "camera" lingering over them for an extra three or so seconds in a still shot? And the awkwardness can be further exacerbated by the deliberate (but actually pretty good in the end) decision to make the cyborg characters have larger eyes that do not blink ever, adding an uncanny valley effect sometimes too. With that said, it does make sense that the cyborgs are deliberately made to appear artificial and slightly uncanny looking. This is an excellently subtle way to signal to the audience that these characters aren't quite human without having to pull out a megaphone and announce it every time.
The last problem I think it has is the usual annoyance I seem to see a lot these days where characters make bafflingly stupid decisions. And this time, the Retard Decision award goes to the Major (and also Bato) for putting aside common sense and hooking themselves up to a notorious government cyberweapon with barely any semblance of protection. You really fucking thought that one through, didn't you. >_>
Let's put all that aside though and begin talking about why this movie is really good. For one the combat scenes are decent enough and the plot is pretty tight. The governmental intrigue gets kind of hard to track at times, and I'll be honest, sometimes I just couldn't keep up, but it's not really necessary in the end as the main thread is relatively simple to understand. The soundtrack is pretty good as well. At first watch, it may seem discordant with the gritty sci-fi surroundings, but despite that, the movie succeeds at being kind of... Dreamy. It's a very cool feeling and pretty appropriate to the themes the movie is going for. This surrealness is also helped by the, for lack of better words, technological beauty of the Major. Thinking about it, I keep coming to a key question brought up in a scene of the movie. If we had a perfect crafted enduring body with incredible abilities, who would we be? Do our struggles give us definition?
Or is this all so much intellectual faffing about and augmented dreamy sexy cyberpunk bodies are the actual ideal?
I'll let you decide that one for yourself.
From a technical standpoint, this movie still holds up pretty well, featuring the same gorgeous attention to detail that distinguished Cowboy Bebop. Sound design is a bit generic but otherwise fits the scenes pretty damn well. The voicework though... This is where we come to one of the first blemishes with the film. At times, the voice lines quite literally feel like they're being read off a piece of paper in a flat and sort of hurried manner and it does a lot to break immersion. And don't get me wrong. Sometimes, that's exactly the line delivery that's needed for some characters, but for others, it makes no sense at all.
There's also a fair few times where the shot just kind of... Lingers just a little too long, making it kinda eyebrow raising. Ok, the characters have spoken their lines for this scene. Why is the "camera" lingering over them for an extra three or so seconds in a still shot? And the awkwardness can be further exacerbated by the deliberate (but actually pretty good in the end) decision to make the cyborg characters have larger eyes that do not blink ever, adding an uncanny valley effect sometimes too. With that said, it does make sense that the cyborgs are deliberately made to appear artificial and slightly uncanny looking. This is an excellently subtle way to signal to the audience that these characters aren't quite human without having to pull out a megaphone and announce it every time.
The last problem I think it has is the usual annoyance I seem to see a lot these days where characters make bafflingly stupid decisions. And this time, the Retard Decision award goes to the Major (and also Bato) for putting aside common sense and hooking themselves up to a notorious government cyberweapon with barely any semblance of protection. You really fucking thought that one through, didn't you. >_>
Let's put all that aside though and begin talking about why this movie is really good. For one the combat scenes are decent enough and the plot is pretty tight. The governmental intrigue gets kind of hard to track at times, and I'll be honest, sometimes I just couldn't keep up, but it's not really necessary in the end as the main thread is relatively simple to understand. The soundtrack is pretty good as well. At first watch, it may seem discordant with the gritty sci-fi surroundings, but despite that, the movie succeeds at being kind of... Dreamy. It's a very cool feeling and pretty appropriate to the themes the movie is going for. This surrealness is also helped by the, for lack of better words, technological beauty of the Major. Thinking about it, I keep coming to a key question brought up in a scene of the movie. If we had a perfect crafted enduring body with incredible abilities, who would we be? Do our struggles give us definition?
Or is this all so much intellectual faffing about and augmented dreamy sexy cyberpunk bodies are the actual ideal?
I'll let you decide that one for yourself.
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