GHOST IN THE SHELL Review (MILD SPOILERS)

BRIEF DISCLAIMER: Hey guys! I just wanted to say before we get to the nitty-gritty, there's going to be a spoiler or two in this review. So, if you want the short version (which isn't saying much considering that this review might end up being one of the shortest things I've written for this site yet): it's okay at best, stay for the eye-candy visuals and the fantastic score. With that out of the way, on with the show!

Up until its recent release, I was predicting that Ghost In The Shell would be this year's equivalent to the 2013 Tom Cruise sci-fi flick Oblivion. And, after finally having seen this long-awaited American adaptation of the much revered anime franchise, I can confidently say that I was... pretty much right.

For context, I use Oblivion as a comparison because both films are visually stunning works from competent directors backed up by fantastic scores from accomplished artists (no joke, Clint Mansell's work for this flick is absolutely solid)... that are rather unspectacular when you get right down to it.

Seriously, it hasn't even been 24 hours since I've seen this thing and I'm already having to scour Wikipedia and Reddit just to remember what the plot was. Going back to Oblivion for a moment, while I'm admittedly unfamiliar with the source material, Ghost in the Shell seems to share even the basic story beats of that forgotten affair (i.e. Main character works for big company/organization, ends up uncovering some big secret about his/her existence, and spends the rest of the proceedings exacting revenge). Side note relating to the revenge stuff: am I the only person who thinks this movie should've have been much more R-rated. Honestly, the action here is so dull and lifeless, that it feels like adding just a tiny bit of bloodshed would've made things just a little more interesting.

And now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: casting Scarlet Johansson as the franchise's traditionally Japanese protagonist. Now, let be clear, I am NOT the guy to approach when it comes to the subject of how race is handled in movies or "whitewashing" (if you want more thoughtful looks into that sort of territory, there are plenty of other movie news rags with plenty of other writeups on it); but, suffice it to say, Johansson (like pretty much everyone else in this movie) is basically sleepwalking through this. Oh well, at least she and the rest of the cast have been in better motion pictures.

Overall, my suggestion would be to wait until this thing hits Redbox or Amazon Video (AKA the point where the world at large forgets this was a thing that existed) to check it out; however, the visuals and score* are strong enough to earn at least the price of a matinee showing I suppose. As for me, I'm just content in the knowledge that I'll be getting a better version of this sort of cyperpunk fare once Blade Runner 2049 hits theaters about six months from now.


GHOST IN THE SHELL gets a...
MEDIOCRE out of 10

*Message to Paramount: Why haven't you released Clint Mansell's work for this yet? Most film scores are already released either ahead of/after the movie comes out or on the day of. Seriously, why are you holding it back? Just release it already.