Director:Â Rupert Sanders
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Rila Fukushima, Juliette Binoche, Pilou Asbæk, Michael Wincott
Running Time: 107 mins
Rating: 12A
Release Date: March 31st, 2017
Imagine a near future where the line between human and cybernetic is blurring, where someones brain can be transported into a cyber enhanced body or someone with damaged eyes can have robotic ones installed that grants them x-ray vision. This is the world of GHOST IN THE SHELL, set in a sprawling Japan metropolis, where holographic ads float above the sky and dodgy looking men offer cyber enhancements to strangers on the street. Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind: a fully cybernetic body but with a human brain, she works for the Hanka corporation, fighting terrorism and bringing down the most ruthless criminals.Â
Visually, the film is a wonder. Director Rupert Sanders captures the city beautifully and the film has a refreshingly colourful palette to it, the aforementioned ads that generate around the city and so detailed and vivid you wish to pause the film just to take it all in. The set design and costumes are both visual eye candy that helps the futuristic vibe the film aims for – images such as someone popping the top half of their face off to plug in a cable or an attack by robotic geisha’s are just some of the more mesmerizing scenes in the film.
However, for a film that should be so rich with subtext and conflicting characters, the city itself is the only thing with any personality in the film. Johansson’s Major is a one note protagonist, with only hints of any real charisma or depth. Whether that’s dependent on the script or her performance is hard to say but unfortunately the camera is more interested in how she looks then any hints of a personality. Her supporting cast is even less memorable, including Juliette Binoche who’s given a largely thankless role as Major’s handler. Pilou Asbaek leaves the best impression, but only because he’s the only one allowed to enjoy himself and seem like he could be a real person – the less said about Peter Ferdinandos one dimensional villain Cutter or the wasted talent of Michael Pitt as expository machine Kuze the better.Â
Even the visuals aren’t always on point, as Sanders films a climatic fight with a scorpion tank that feels more tired than energetic or a club shootout that manages to be forgettable as soon as it’s over. With no story to really engage, GHOST IN THE SHELL falls flat on its face, its twists predictable (even without having seen the original). For a film that could be thought provoking and raise some interesting questions about man and machine, the end result feels oddly neutered, as if the studio didn’t have the nerves to really ‘go there’ with the material they had.Â
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