Irony Knows No Bounds

If there’s one strain of adaptations that Western film-making hasn’t fully grasped and delivered to audiences who are either familiarised or unaware of the original source material, it’s the live-action anime conversions that stain not only the reputation of the proceeding feature/T.V. series, but also our aspirations to see a different yet commendable re-working. Indeed, you only have to gaze at James Wong’s Dragonball Evolution for 5 whole minutes to know just how badly the West tarnishes promising and intriguing Japanese Animated concepts and stories as though they weren’t significant to begin with. As much as many find comfort and enjoyment in any typical live-action genre films, it’s catalytical to note just how imperative Japanese animation films, and a few episodic series here and there, have influenced the methodologies of many lauded Western film-makers over the years. A prime instance of this would be Satoshi Kon’s Paprika and how much of the films contextual tropes were inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Inception in relation to the euphoric and consequential nature of dreaming. The same can be said of Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 Japanese animation film of Ghost in the Shell which not only, as many people will know, influenced the film-making tactics of The Wachowski’s in their film of The Matrix, but is now being traversed into a live-action flick which purposefully differentiates itself from the original by fleshing out the backstory intricacies of the main heroine and overtly presenting the complex philosophical themes of identity and technology in a simplistic fashion. 

In the near future, technology has risen to the point where humans have become enhanced with cybernetic upgrades. Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind; a human saved from a terrible incident who is now cyber-enhanced to be the perfect soldier for Section 9 who are devoted in stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level, which includes the ability for others to willingly hack into people’s minds and control them, a new cyber-criminal who goes by the name of Kuze; a hacker who has launched a one-man war against the Hanka robotics company that he claims has harmed him and many others in the past. As she prepares to face this new enemy, Major soon realises that there is a lot more going involving her past life and what inevitably happened to her…

Vaguely similar to how the 1995 Japanese animated film openly suggests from just the title alone, Sanders’ live-action re-working of Ghost in the Shell comparably attempts to flourish the complexities of the philosophical themes, that were previously established in previous workings, in a differentiating manner where un-familiarised audiences will understand instantaneously. While many, who have read or watched the original source material and understand the heavy-handed themes presented, will be inevitably disheartened by the actuality that this new iteration of a popular anime franchise doesn’t primarily expand on themes that made the original works stand out as much as it did, it’s clear from the opening sequences that Sanders wanted to present the intricate motifs in a simplistic fashion for modern audiences to understand, which is a good thing. If this was a film that voluntarily duplicated the narrative structure and the visually appealing sequences from Oshii’s animated take of the proceeding manga, it would leave a bad taste in people’s ever-gazing view in cinema and would show just how much un-originality there is in this modern era of film. As explained within the previous review of the film, the original 1995 animation, which was devoid from any plot progression, mainly focused on the philosophical issues and how the line between humanity and A.I and how there’s a distinct blur between technology and identity. In the case of this film, while it doesn’t recreate the meaningful substance that the original feature effortlessly emphasised through visual means, this is a film that can be seen as a ‘homage’ that respectfully utilises minute aspects from the foregoing animation whilst using distinguishing cinematic factors to make it a story of its own. This is evidently highlighted within the sequences that are recreations of famous scenes from Mamoru Oshii’s animated piece which are using the same camera-angles and visual backdrops previously used. As much as it is disconcerting, going into this film, knowing that the film-makers are replicated moments from another film that a certain demographic will have already seen, this film, rather subtly, implements these moments rather differently in relation to the contexts of the film and how the story subsequently plays out. What we see differently in comparison to the animation, which purposefully delves into its elaborate ideologies, is more of a personal confliction that the character of the Major goes through. As the streamlined narrative consistently progresses to its end-point, instead of the the main protagonist being conflicted as to what she really as explored thoroughly in the 90’s animation which is also begrudgingly exposed within the opening segments of this film, there is much more of a personal emphasis on the Major since we are given moments where she see’s glitched memories of her past that the character believes in, but the people who created her are saying otherwise which, subsequently, makes her delve deeply into her own upbringing. With this at hand, it’s clearly evident that Sanders persistently wanted to take this beloved anime franchise, which has been re-done a few times since its inception, down a personalised route that still manages to engage our mind-set by having a cyber-enhanced character of the Major more compelling in terms of her own upbringing. Aside from the whole meaningless quarrel of the ‘whitewashing’ debate, which will forevermore be a topic of ‘concern’ in relation to re-workings such as this, this new take on Ghost in the Shell meticulously paves itself towards a personalised angle that new-comers will promptly grasp towards; even though it is no way near as impactful and meaningful as what other iterations conveyed. For all its conveniences of applying itself to a more straightforward story-line where the themes and motifs are downplayed considerably to attain towards the general viewing audience, one of the things that falters due to this happening is how incorporates a villain that is underwhelming in comparison to how compelling the Major essentially becomes. While his incognito presence of him hacking into other cyber-enhanced machines thrillingly synonymous with the Major’s intrinsic journey, there is ultimately substantial motivation that keeps us enticed with that specific character, which is unfortunate. One of the underlying aspects that made Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell so enthralling and euphoric to watch, was the ‘villain’ of “The Puppet Master” and how he enigmatically manipulates the space around him by not only hacking his way through various mechanical beings, but also spouting out dialogue passages involving humanity and how the essence of this is reproduction and mortality. There’s a clear motivation as to what he wants to accomplish and, in many ways, we route for his goal; being that he’s looking for answers instead of being menially evil. This is something that is completely lacking from the antagonist within this new live-action feature. It’s clear that the film-makers, again, wanted to produce a Ghost in the Shell story for the general viewing audience, not for the specific familiarised demographic, so that they can understand the themes and enjoy the streamlined and influenced world that is presented. The ‘villain’ of this feature, essentially becomes your run-of-the-mill Hollywood adversary that lacks any real incentive; which in turn blurs the line of this ‘streamline’ narrative having a definitive balance of good and evil.  

One aesthetic however that Sanders, and the rest of the people who worked on this new take of Ghost in the Shell, managed to balance well, is the visualisation of the world that we see and how the amalgamation of the cyber-punk production design and seamless CG effects blend together to create a faithful homage to the original works. As much as many may wince in glancing at the sequences that are obvious recreations of scenes that take place in the original animations, as mentioned before, Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell sports the fusion-chic imagery of the cityscape with beautiful imagery of the deprived and Blade Runner-esque streets with huge and nightmarish giant holograms; all fully realised through the wide lens of the camera. Of course, it’s understandable for those who are accustomed to this franchise and anime in general, that this already said demographic of viewers will be hesitant in approaching this live-action re-adaptation due to the fact that the 90’s animated film used its visualisation to elaborate on the much discussed themes shown and how fully relying on CG effects to manipulate the entirety of the space can have severe consequences. As a tool for necessary means, CGI is an appropriate filmic apparatus, for any film-maker, to construct an imaginary space that feels authentic to the viewing eye as well as further establishing a specific meaning that the narrative and the characters are trying to convey. However, if it’s overused to the point where it seems evidently noticeable, our gaze can be fractured; causing us to disconnect from our attachment to what is being shown. While in the case of this sci-fi feature, there is a considerable amount that is built from the use of CGI, it’s the fusion with the inspired production design that makes everything shown seem seamless and fully realised. 

What is also fully realised, to an extent, is the casting and how many of the performers contribute to the vision that Sanders has set-out in creating a live-action adaptation of an anime classic. As much as Pilou Asbæk’s interpretation as Batou is reminiscent of what is seen in the original films, especially when he interacts with the Basset Hound little snip-bit, all the attention will be drawn to Scarlett Johansson’s performance as the cybernetic femme-fatale of the Major; a type of role that she’s become synonymous with in recent years. With her dead-pan smile and influenced body-movements, she remains inert enough to be the recipient of fetishised erotic fascination, as boldly touched upon in foregoing features, yet proactive enough to be a proper action heroine. While her superhero qualities shown present her to look like a solemn version of her other fictional counterpart of Black Widow, from the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the apparent disconnect that her character goes through within the contexts of this film, isn’t as intriguing in comparison to Alicia Vikander’s enactment as Ava in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina; who was able to parade her crafted exoskeleton more openly and mysteriously. Johansson remains remotely stoic enough to comprehend our gaze towards her and what the Major essentially goes through; both mentally and physically.

For sure, there’s not an argument to be made about the fact that the Westernised live-action adaptations of Japanese animated films/T.V. shows that come about in this contemporary age of cinema haven’t really been faithfully realised and accepted to the capacity that they should been received. Now, in seeing a differentiating yet reminiscent film that Rupert Sanders has constructed in the form of Ghost in the Shell, it’s more than likely that we’ll be seeing more films this being in the years to come. In saying this however, there is still along way to go. While Masamune Shirow’s concept has been fully realised in terms of visual aesthetics, much of the themes that people know of this anime franchise is lacklustre an un-engaging, which is a shame. This re-imaging has the ‘shell’, but no ‘ghost’ to warrant consecutive viewings…

And on that note, it’s time for me to end.this week’s review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest review of Ghost in the Shell and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it! 😉. If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the film itself, please feel free to drop a comment down below. Next week, I will either bring you a review of Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire, or a review of the sci-fi classic, Alien. Once again, thank you to everyone for reading this week’s Blog Post and I’ll see you all next week!! Have a nice day!! Adieu!! 😀😎✌

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte