- Messages
- 6,064
- Rating
Well, I hoped you all were paying attention during Robotics Calculus 1 because the second class is definitely not any easier and builds directly upon the foundation of the first.
GitS2 surprisingly starts off with us not following the Major after the events of the first movie, but instead following Batou and continues in this manner for the rest of the film with Togusa closely riding shotgun. I actually really like this change of perspective. My only complaint with this is that the way Batou is written and animated feels just a tad too stiff. Thankfully though, Togusa is there to add some needed life and help us keep at least some kind of a foot in reality. And that foot in reality is defintely needed because this movie has cranked up the symbolism here like mad. It doesn't feel dreamy like the first film did... Per se, but instead simply feeks more abstract... Well, alright, maybe it is pretty dreamy, but GitS1 just felt different. Like that first movie was a shimmering mirror-like surface of water that was almost beckoning you to put your head beneath the surface and see what is beneath it...
Fucking hell, man. These two movies definitely call to this very contemplative, calm, steely, and dissociated state in me. I don't know if I can describe such a feeling in text accurately though. If you know, you know and you understand. If not, well, don't worry about it. Uncle Arnox is off his meds again. Pay it no mind. In any case, I'm rambling, so let's refocus on the movie.
In the first movie, I said that it seemed like people in the movie were reading their lines off a piece of paper. Sometimes it was appropriate for the scene, and sometimes it wasn't. Thankfully though, I didn't notice that nearly as much in this film. The presentation and voice acting is much better. A small disclaimer though. This may have been because I was watching the Japanese-dubbed version with English subs. There's also no more awkward parts in the movie where people are just staring at each other for a few seconds too long in utter silence, or at least, far fewer anyway. It seems they really paid attention to the issues with the first film and worked them out with the second one.
The plot itself is pretty confusing. There's a lot going on here. And this movie will expect you to handle all those plot details while also keeping up with what seems like a whole separate movie's worth of philosophy and symbolism right on the side. There is absolutely no shame here in feeling a bit baffled by the time this movie ends. Honestly, I personally kind of relished the intellectual challenge of it all, even if I wasn't personally able to keep up with it all the way, but that is me. Your mileage may vary here quite a lot, but I will say this one thing. Before you get ready to completely write off this movie as way too complex and confusing for its own good, I would ask you to think about when the last time was that you saw a movie that was this intelligently written? A movie that doesn't talk down to you and treats you like a damn adult who can work out deep concepts for themselves? It feels to me like this wasn't really a movie that was designed to be fully 100% understood on the first viewing, but was instead made with the expectation that viewers would give it repeat watchings and understand more and more of it with each view. Kind of like an onion or an ogre.
The animation is utterly beautiful here with excellent perspectives and gorgeous art mixed in with surprisingly fitting 3D CGI liberally mixed in. It looks incredibly unique and gives an amazing aesthetic, both serving the plot and philosophy directly while also just plain looking good at the same time. And you know, the art really did have to be absolutely on-point for a movie that leans so heavily on visual symbology. Anything less would have compromised the vision and distracted from the points the movie is trying to make. I feel I should give a warning though. If puppets or dolls freak you out, this movie is going to be hell for you. lol Just know that before you watch it.
So... Four stars or five? Ehhh... Well, I think I still like the first GitS more, but not by much at all, and that's just purely personal preference too and not for any objective reason, so I think five stars it is. This is still an utterly fantastic film, mixing GitS in with a bit of Blade Runner here and a bit of the Cowboy Bebop anime there to create something that I would definitely recommend to anyone... You know... As long as they're not a soy boy who's never cracked open a philosophy book in their entire life. Then this film will probably drown them.
Last edited:
