Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Based on the renowned Japanese manga series of the same name, “Ghost in the Shell” follows the story of a cyber-enhanced soldier named Major (Scarlett Johansson). Nearly killed in a fatal crash, Major’s human brain was saved and placed in a robotic body, and she now serves on a police force in her efforts to stop the most dangerous criminals in a techno-centric future Japan. Believed to be the first of her kind, Major soon finds out that what she has been told has not necessarily been true, as she also must stop a dangerous criminal that threatens to destroy Japan.
Now while this concept sounds interesting and could possibly have some potential, this film is about the farthest thing from interesting. The plot is handled terribly and leaves nothing for audiences to keep wanting as they watch. Often times, viewers will feel as if the dialogue is honestly boring and that the characters have absolutely no real chemistry. Most will actually be praying for more action sequences to give the movie some kind pacing or pulse.
However, audiences will just be faced with more disappointment as the action sequences are just as uninteresting as the rest of movie. Viewers will often feel like they are just watching but not feeling anything toward the scenes. Instead of heart-pounding action sequences that make audiences sweat with anxiety, “Ghost in the Shell” features action scenes that just don’t perform. Not to mention, the director, Rupert Sanders, clearly loves slow motion scenes and wanted to fill his movie with as many as he could, but they often ruin the moment and will make audiences feel sad since they have to endure the movie longer.
Most of the characters feel pointless and often rely on Major to move the plot forward and make anything happen onscreen. The film clearly relies on Scarlett Johansson’s star power to make audiences happy, but she can’t even do that, as Johansson’s acting feels pretty wooden and makes absolutely nothing interesting or original about her character.
The only thing that “Ghost in the Shell” has going for it is some pretty solid visuals that make a futuristic Japan seem lively. The film never capitalizes on these things, as there is never any sort of real backstory given as to why Japan is like this, and it feels like the director made Japan more techno and electronic because he thought audiences would like the more “enhanced” visuals.
In all honesty, audiences might try to find anything redeeming or actually enjoyable in “Ghost in the Shell,” but will ultimately realize that there is actually nothing good to find anyway. Many will find complete boredom, missed opportunities, zero chemistry amongst uninteresting performances and sheer disappointment if they go see “Ghost in the Shell.”
tmoore3@ramapo.edu
