(This has been adapted from my reddit thread) The wheel, the boat, the firearm, the car, the computer; technology has come quite the long way over a relatively short period of time. With the advent of the Internet and pocket-sized smartphones, it seems as if the gap between what is science-fiction and what is reality will eventually become nonexistent. One step along that path is the concept of cyborgs, or people who are half-man and half-machine. But what's most interesting isn't just the concept, but the questions it raises. For Ghost in the Shell, it brings about both action and answers. STORY Ghost in the Shell begins instunning fashion. Major Motoko, presumably working for the government, assassinates a political diplomat, setting the stage for what the film has to offer.
With such an opening, Ghost in the Shell comes off as both mature and aimed at providing entertainment. This isn't a tale about a high school boy's harem or a campy slice-of-life; it's grisly, with espionage, violence, and killing. And it's something that the movie does quite well. Computer hacking, a one-on-one brawl taking place on an open pond, harrowing car chases, military tank battling, helicopter snipers; it's filled to the brim with sequences that are simultaneously action-packed and real. That last part is important, for two reasons. One, the show is fantastical, with its robots and invisibility cloaks. And two, the scenes progress "normally." There are no over-expositions or lame outcomes; bullets pierce cars and people in an "appropriate" manner. In other words, the show maintains both realism and non-realism in just the right amount of doses.
This mix of two opposite sides isn't just found in the action. In fact, Ghost in the Shell actually goes philosophical. Here, in a world filled with computerized information and inhuman humans, a debate on man versus machine is had. Throughout the movie, Motoko questions her existence, as does the Puppet Master. And during the final scenario that takes place, a culmination of thought spills out. Humans themselves can be looked at as machines, containing rational thought, while harboring more animal bases. But there are still limitations in what is "humanly possible." Machines are purely logical, making the choice that brings the most efficiency or the right answer. Being able to perform massive computations gives them the ability to understand the impossible. But their inability to incorporate emotions also limits their "processing power."
So what does Ghost in the Shell make of these two opposing forces? Like my introduction discusses, that "next step" is taken. A merging of both people and ideals is had to attain a higher form of life, that next leap in technology. What the film conveys is that man and machine are definitely different but strangely similar. Questioning one's place and wanting to be "something more" is natural for any person, and, in this circumstance, cyborgs and robots, too. And by the end of the film, these thoughts of life and death that were presented continue on in the viewer, giving him or her newfound perspective.
Intermittently throughout the movie, the show usually "calms" down so significantly, one wouldn't be remiss in thinking that it was switched out for another. This tactic is intelligent; not only does this give it the opportunity to showcase the world -- such as the creation of the "Shells" and the daily lives of the people -- but also it ties in with its established theme of dichotomy. By revving up the speed and then suddenly slowing everything down, it's as if the audience is taken on a roller coaster, experiencing the action-packed highs and the thought-provoking lows of the tone. Having one's adrenaline pumped up, losing it due to a moderate stretch of "nothing," then immediately having it picked up again further adds to the uneasy sense that permeates the entire film.
ANIMATION
The art and animation for Ghost in the Shell are easily the highlight.
The art for the movie perfectly captures its own feelings. Many dull colors -- grays, browns, blacks, and purples -- are used for the backdrops and characters to give a heightened sense of ambiguity to match the mysterious nature of the ideas being presented. At the same time, everything feels dreary. The grainy filtering, the dilapidated buildings, and the constant overcast with rain create a mood that comes off as something being wrong. That despite the futuristic technology at everyone's disposal, not everything is right in this world.
At the same time, the camera direction gives various views of the cyberpunk environment. Wide shots of a darkened room with a lone window, scenic shots of the city from the rooftops, and seeing through another person's eyes gave unique takes on the world, adding further to the elements of action and vagueness.
The character designs are both appropriate and cool. Togusa and his mullet, Batou and his coined eyes, and Matoko and her stern face further cause the reiterated dissonance to be clearly evident.
To top it all off, the film's animation is superb. Bodies twist and turn during fights, with guns, bullets, and vehicles flowing seamlessly. Combined with smoke effects, subtle movements during conversations, and non-still backgrounds, it gives life to the setting where it is purposely designed to have none.
CHARACTERS
Where Ghost in the Shell missteps ever so slightly is with the characters that populate it. Essentially, there are only two key players in the events that take place: Major Motoko and the Puppet Master.
Major Motoko takes center stage in this futuristic adventure. Stalwart in mind and strong of body, she is the epitome of soldiers designed for warfare. While her best friend is Batou and her police-partner is Togusa, she mostly keeps to herself, doing what she wants, if her propensities are powerful enough. Early on, we see Motoko contemplating the kind of life she leads, and a lot of her characterization is mired in the concept of "birth." More specifically, "rebirth" or "renewal." Having dreams of one's creation are not common; she frequently finds herself literally floating upwards in the sea to recreate that sensation and event. At the same time, we find her discussing the concept of "becoming someone else" with Batou and later on seeing her head on that of a child's body: not a regression, but a restart of her entire person.
And what's interesting is where her mind focuses. Motoko places heavy emphasis on the beginning of life, but almost completely ignores its end. For her, death means nothing; she doesn't care if she drowns while enjoying her hobby or having her head crushed by immense pressure. What she values is not just where she came from but who she is now. On a daily basis, she sees how easy a soul can be snuffed out by her or anyone. The film extends this thinking further by investigating the psyche. She witnesses a man whose very memories are altered, and even "finds herself" on a self-reflective walk through the city. In short, she is constantly worrying about her existence.
Transitioning briefly to the last important character, the Puppet Master is another person -- or rather a program -- who holds similar trains of thought. Without a true Shell of his own, "he" was created as a tool to be used at will by those of Section 6 for their personal gain. His name holds symbolic meaning on many fronts; he is master of the system to which he is a part of yet a slave to the rules and regulations that govern it; and while he may be able to take over lifeless "Shells" at a whim, he himself is just as much a doll as the one's he controls (as is said by the head of Section 9, Daisuke).
Sadly, not much is known about his character; in essence, he is barely shown at all. There is one exception: his obsession with life and death. He sees himself as a sentient being, as someone who is defined as existing in this world. However, he feels "incomplete" due to a lack of death. For him, his start holds no meaning, for it revolves around malice, anger, and evil. Instead, his interest in death is logical in that it makes the most sense for his "well-being" and rational in that it provides him with the "closure" he dreams of having.
And thus it becomes clear once more. As the Puppet Master aptly describes it, he and Motoko are "mirror images." They're similar but separate; one thinks of birth and life whereas the other thinks of life and dying. The recurring theme of opposites and the unknown that divides them shines here quite brightly. And in a poignant conclusion, the two become one, signifying a departure from what is seemingly "broken" to unbelievably "whole." Unfortunately, this development in their characters is not looked at in length. Despite having built up to a crescendo, the film falls silent; perhaps this is just one more demonstration of the theme at play. Regardless, the audience is left to ponder what exactly such an outcome means, both in context of that universe and our own.
SOUND
What's fascinating is how little music actually goes into Ghost in the Shell, while still remaining atmospherically relevant. The one track that gets used the most, with its lone drum and creepy singing, further generates the unsettling sense that takes over much of the movie. At certain moments, it even opts to use more ambient sounds, where one can barely hear the faint tones of the wind-like music. The film can get more "spiritual" when it wants to, too: the slow violin and erratic guitar piece feels mysterious and the violin, chimes, and eventual choir-singing track that backs up the final fight has a distant but hopeful aura about it.
Beyond the soundtrack, the sound effects that comprise everything involved are also well-done. Bullets flying, guns clicking, water splashing, camouflage activating; a flurry of sounds barrage the audience that replace the modern use of music, making the film that much more unique.
Overall, the voice-acting involved is about average. Atsuko Tanaka as Motoko is soft-spoken and serious, Akio Atsuka as Batou is rough yet kind as the situation needs it, and Iemasa Kayumi as the Puppet Master maintains a monotone form of talking that matches his machine-like manifestation.
As a final note, the film is markedly quiet. Certain lines are hardly audible when spoken, and many segments are inhibited from being even marginally loud.
ENJOYMENT
This movie sounds awesome when described: cybernetic hacking, slick action sequences, and various weapons utilized for combat are just a slathering of what the movie has to offer. Yet I never found myself truly enticed by the film. Certain parts are exciting, but it never felt as if I had to see what was going to be happening next.
Part of this issue is the characters. Honestly speaking, they're intriguing, but incredibly boring to watch. Relating to them is extremely difficult, not just because they're mostly made up of computer parts but also because they have this air about them. An air of "in-control," where the entire circumstance never feels as if it will not go their way. It's not that "realism" is destroyed; it's more that the experience isn't gripping, all of the "Hollywood" moments notwithstanding.
Finally, it felt as if the film was a half-hour or so too short. With a bit more time, more fighting sequences, more characterization of the Puppet Master, and more meaningful development of the hybrid of technology that was instantiated could have been had, making it an even more well-rounded package.
Ghost in the Shell is a movie that introduces two concepts: a futuristic, computer-dominated world and philosophical questioning on what it means to be. With its well-crafted story, interesting characters, and stellar art and animation, it's a movie that still stands the test of time.
SUMMARY
Story: Great, nice action sequences, moral questioning on man versus machine, thematic balance
Animation: Great, dreary art to create ambiguity, nice camera direction, cool character designs, great actual animation
Characters: Good, Motoko and the Puppet Master are "mirror images," but lack consequential development
Sound: Good, atmospheric soundtrack, nice sound effects, okay VA work, weirdly quiet
Enjoyment: Fine, entertaining at times, lacking relatability, a bit too short in length
Final Score: 8/10
Recommended
‘’And can you offer me proof of your existence? How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life is?’’ Ghost in the Shell is an anime film adaptation of the cyberpunk manga of the same name by Masamune Shiro. Both the anime and manga have received critical praise for decades now and have built a strong fan base in Japan and the West alike. But while the manga is more comedic and light-hearted overall, the anime is much more serious and mature, with the film’s tone making it feel completely different from Shiro’s original work. Part of this is probably dueto the director, Mamoru Oshii and if you haven’t heard of the name before, remember it because he is one of the most thought-provoking filmmakers the industry has ever seen (e.g. Angel’s Egg and Jin-Roh) and his work for Ghost in the Shell is another reason why he is held in such high regard. This film loves to ask the audience existential questions, with the simplest, yet deepest and most difficult to answer being “what makes us human?”
Throughout the film, the protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi asks herself this while working for Section 9, a public security agency run by a group of cybernetically enhanced cops who are tracking down a notorious hacker known only as the Puppetmaster. The movie is set in the year 2029 in a Hong Kong-inspired city where the world has been overrun by a vast network that controls every aspect of one’s life and where people having cybernetic enhancements is very common. Motoko however, has a body which is completely cybernetic, which is referred to as a “Shell”. Due to technological advancements, the definition of being human has been altered; a “Ghost” is what differentiates a human being from a robot, hence the title “Ghost in the Shell”.
Because this movie takes place in the future, these are also advancements that have been made in regards to weaponry and military purposes. Concealment and usage of these advancements are executed exceptionally well, even at the beginning of the film. Therm-optic camouflage allows users to become totally invisible and is used heavily throughout the film by both Motoko and her enemies to escape and, in Motoko’s case, another way to kick ass. The guns that are used are able to destroy fully armoured tanks in a matter of seconds. And the way Motoko uses these weapons in battles further demonstrates how mature this film is. Ghost in the Shell as a series overall focuses on tension and strategic build-up before quick bursts of intense action rather than the kind of long, drawn out battles full of action that you’d be more likely to see in a long-running shounen. Ghost in the Shell makes those action scenes feel more important and reduce the amount of unnecessary choreography in these scenes, making every move made feel important and has reason behind it. Even the last battle with Motoko and the walking tank has no wasted movement by Motoko, as any false move could very well cause her death.
It’s also worth noting that even having a complete cybernetic enhanced body does not make one invincible. One can still die in the universe of Ghost in the Shell just as easily in real life, but what’s different is that with cybernetic enhancements, one’s sense of pain is lost to their enhanced part/s. From this, one can push their cybernetic body to their breaking point and cause their enhancements to break, whereas without them, such a scenario wouldn’t be physically possible. The amount to detail that went into cybernetic technology alone in this film is nothing short of amazing. These ideas are all fleshed out in the short duration this film has and makes the world of Ghost in the Shell more realistic that it’s possible that this could be our future.
There are also practical drawbacks from these advancements; a human can easily be ghost hacked, meaning that their mind can be erased and filled with completely different memories. This is touched upon when Motoko’s partner Batou states that “all the information that a person accumulates in a lifetime is just a drop in the bucket.” While the movie is aimed primarily at self-identification, it also looks at the unintended creation of new life forms, such as what would happen if a program from the internet could become self-aware and escape into the world we all live in, and the dangers that would have on us. It even deals with genetic manipulation, with how combining multiple sets of DNA to form one set that share the greatest features from each set, yet is fundamentally different from all of them. It’s no surprise that Ghost in the Shell is a very complex film when it comes to the subject matter, but the film never tries to shove all these concepts down the viewer’s throat. Many of the deep questions it asks are done in such a subtle way that doesn’t impact the pacing of the show, yet keeps viewers looking deep into the film always thinking. The film plays out more like a sci-fi thriller that keeps viewers both intrigued and entertained.
I’ve talked so much on the overall story and themes and yet I haven’t even begun to talk about the film’s animation, which is another one of its strengths since it was made in 1995 and over 2 decades still looks spectacular. Characters move fluidly in action scenes especially, every scene has a sense of atmosphere from backgrounds used, limited CGI that fits the look and feel the overall movie has and a keen eye for detail was clearly present. Every scene has something there that grabs the viewer’s eyes and keeps the viewers engaged even if they do get bored at some points. The level is detail is so high, that in a scene when Motoko is using thermo-optic camouflage, her shadow can still be seen, implying that her camouflage is an optical illusion, to put it simply. The film also has an artistic side to it as the opening shows us the making of a cyborg, more specifically Motoko herself and montages of the futuristic city are shown throughout the film, showing how advancements made over time have impacted the Hong Kong-inspired setting. Even the nudity within this film is rather symbolic and never meant to be taken sexually by viewers.
The soundtrack for this film is also amazing with very gripping music from Kenji Kawai that adds to the mystique of the world and at times even feels creepy because of how well it fits with the atmosphere, with “Making of a Cyborg” being one of my favourite OST’s of all time. My only issue with the sound would be the English voice actors, Mimi Wood especially (voiced Motoko) I found very unlikeable and it didn’t help with scenes that were dialogue heavy that involved her. But they were still pretty good and didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the film. The other main issue I had with the fil overall was the characters. Obviously, Motoko is the star of the show and her internal struggle of losing her humanity throughout the film is part of why she’s my favourite female anime character as I am writing this. However, she’s the only character who gets any real development over the course of the film. Batou and the Puppetmaster are the only other characters worth anything in the film overall, with the rest of Section 9 feeling unimportant and replaceable. Now I understand the staff can only do so much with a movie that lasts 82 minutes and they’ve already gone beyond what I believe was expected of them, but I just wish that the film was longer, if only to put more emphasis on the characters.
Overall, Ghost in the Shell is a very enjoyable sci-fi flick on the surface, that underneath lies a very mature and complex movie that doesn’t waste any time, and if you don’t pay attention, it will be hard to understand it at all. It’s very clever in how it leaves you in wonder and keeps you thinking about it afterwards, which in my opinion adds to its rewatch value. This film is excellent and should be a must-watch for every anime fan out there. It is not only one of the best anime movies out there, but one of the best science fiction movies that I’ve ever seen as well, up there with the likes of The Matrix and Blade Runner.
