Ghost in the Shell (2017 film)

Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, which follows the story of a synthetically augmented human with cybernetic enhancements who worked within a counter-cyber terrorist organization within a fictionalized cyberpunk 21st century Japan. It was published in 1991, spawned a media franchise that is still ongoing to this day, resulted in a 1995 animated cult film that was instrumental in inspiring other popular sci-fi stories like The Matrix, and has been given praise for its sociological stance on what could’ve been a very straightforward sci-fi action series, and for its exploration of topics like philosophy and the nature of consciousness and identity. In 2008, DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg (of all people) acquired the rights to make a live-action adaptation of the manga along with fellow producers, Avi Arad, Steven Paul and Michael Costigan, and after several years of development and rewrites, the movie was eventually released in 2017 under the distribution banner of Paramount, to a response that wasn’t the most welcoming to say the least. In a future where humans have the ability to become augmented through the use of cybernetic enhancements, Augmentation developer Hanka Robotics establishes a secret project where they hope to integrate a human brain into an artificial body (or shell) without the use of AI. This leads to the creation of Mira (played by Scarlett Johansson), the sole survivor of a cyber terrorist attack, and although her designer, Dr Ouelet (played by Juliette Binoche) advises against it, Hanka Robotics CEO, Cutter (played by Peter Ferdinando) makes her a counter-terrorism operative and puts her in the field. A year goes by, and Mira has become a Major working alongside Chief Daisuke Aramaki (played by Takeshi Kitano) and fellow operatives Togusa and Batou (played by Chin Han and Pilou Asbæk), currently being tasked with hunting down an unknown entity known as Kuze (played by Michael Carmen Pitt), who seems to know more about Mira’s past than even she remembers. By going further down memory lane which seems to contain a lot of tragedy, the truth about her past becomes clearer and makes her question her loyalty to the company that created her. Much like other live-action anime adaptations, this film did not fare well with critics and even fans of the original manga and anime, managing even worse at the box office by only grossing $169.8 million worldwide against a production budget of $110 million (making it one of the biggest bombs of all time). While certainly not as bad as other examples, this shell feels particularly hollow and fails to capture any of the strengths of the original source material.

When adapting a foreign piece of media into a more westernized rendition, it should at least retain the core of its style, tone, and atmosphere in order to stay authentic. Ghost in the Shell may not be on the same level as other iconic Japanese franchises like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, or Pokémon, but it has its audience as well as a specific tone and style that would need to be held onto in order to stay relevant in a new market, and this movie just doesn’t do that. The premise of the series and even the narrative of the film is accurate to story arcs that have taken place in the manga (mixing and altering the story arc of the first series, 1.5: Human Error Processor, while also adding in elements of Major’s backstory), but you can feel from the pacing, acting, directing and even writing, that it just doesn’t feel like the same animal and has become a little too much of a Hollywood creation. Some fault can be placed on the source material, as these discussions of ‘’robotic beings having souls’’ and ‘’what does it mean to be truly human?’’ have been done so many times already in media that the novelty isn’t as strong as when they were initially created, but it’s made even worse by the fact that the film doesn’t contain an inkling of the manga’s philosophical atmosphere, and instead comes across like any other generic cyberpunk-type story with a heavier focus on bombastic action scenes and sci-fi iconography. The screenplay by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, Ehren Kruger and Jonathan Herman (who went uncredited) isn’t smart or thoughtful enough to make any of these deep topics intriguing or properly dissected, and while the changes made to incorporate different aspects from separate stories into one isn’t too sloppily done, the investment is not there because of how little impact most of the content leaves on its viewer. The film isn’t slow in the way a story of this kind should be slow (where it would take time for atmosphere and philosophy to sink in) but is instead just kind of meandering because the outcome is relatively straightforward and not surprising in the least. The director, Rupert Sanders, had only directed one movie prior to this, which was Snow White and the Huntsman (which should honestly just speak for itself), and while this is an improvement over that movie, he still fails to make the premise and world feel fleshed out, the writing engaging, the characters memorable or likeable, and even the visuals and philosophy match with the genre or the culture it’s based in.

A lot of early controversy was thrown at this film for its decision to cast Scarlett Johansson as the Major, with many claiming the film was whitewashing the character and taking a starring role away from a Japanese American actress. While this kind of debate has been a thing for as long as foreign media has been ingrained into the mainstream, and it’s definitely not a good look to see such a high-profile American star leading a Japanese-based property, it doesn’t feel like a specifically racist attack. Not only have these kind of anime adaptations come out with non-Japanese leads before and it didn’t cause too much of a stir (probably because everyone was more focused on all the other horrible things these projects have produced), but the Japanese population and even Mamoru Oshii (who directed the original animated movie), didn’t seem to have any problem with the casting choice, so the decision doesn’t seem to come from a hateful stance at the very least (although the character’s backstory is uncomfortably towing the line of bad taste), and is instead probably a way of inserting a popular American actress into the movie as a means of drawing people in (which is still a lame reason, but not one that feels hateful). With this said however, while the decision might not be racist, it’s hard to say that it was the right choice overall. Scarlett Johansson is a perfectly competent actress and her work within Marvel as the character of Black Widow proves that she can handle a role that requires a form of stoicism and capability yet can still feel very human, but she’s also an actress that can get a little lost if she doesn’t have a strong script or character to back her up, and Mira is just not a very interesting character. Her calm demeanor and mostly blanket personality are not given the correct dialogue or characteristics to keep her from coming across as dull and lifeless, and while Johansson isn’t doing a terrible job, you can feel that it’s a very safe option that the studios picked. Even if it didn’t come with a racist intent, it would’ve been nice to see a Japanese American actress being given the chance to bring her own spin to the role and provide a fresh portrayal, as opposed to the bland inoffensive direction that was given from casting Johansson. The rest of the cast is sadly not much stronger, and it’s strange how few Japanese actors are featured in a story that takes place in Japan. Takeshi Kitano is used so little that you forget he’s even in the film, Pilou Asbæk is passable as Batou but the character’s lack of personality and story purpose makes him feel useless, Juliette Binoche starts off okay as Mira’s designer, but she’s not allowed to grow much beyond this basic character, Peter Ferdinando is really lame as a generic CEO bad-guy with dumb lines and zero intrigue, and Michael Carmen Pitt is even worse as Kuze, with terrible line reads, no character or personality, and outside of originally having a cool look with the black hood, just comes across as any other generic illusive villain within this genre.

While the film largely fails at emulating the manga’s atmosphere, personality, writing style and character direction, it does at least seem to capture the vibe of its world. The environment Ghost in the Shell inhabits is one that is recognizably futuristic, but through the inclusions of traditional Japanese architecture and iconography, makes it visually different from other cyberpunk worlds, and it provides a nice template to translate over into film. While it’s not the most interesting looking location, as these kind of environments are a dime-a-dozen in the genre nowadays, the mix of ancient and modern architecture along with the vibrant colors that comes through elements like advertisements on the side of buildings and even just from being able to see it in the daytime (it’s thankfully allowed to be something other than nighttime in this world) helps it feel a little more lively. While it doesn’t feel entirely authentic to how the original story portrayed it, most of the production design by Jan Roelfs isn’t too bad. Credit should also be given to costume designers, Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller, for being able to effectively capture the look of Major and Batou pretty spot-on from the original manga (the rest of the outfits aren’t anything special, but these specific ones look impressive). The film also has a few fun shots by cinematographer Jess Hall that presents a perspective and angle that feels much more picturesque and creatively angled than what could’ve been presented. It isn’t done too much sadly and as the film continues, a lot of the fun visuals get replaced with an ugly smoky look that just looks awful, but during the first act, there are some nice visuals that are assisted by the effects. Like most of the movie, the effects are hit and miss, but for different reasons than the other inconsistent qualities of the picture. They have a glossy look to them that makes them look like a photo-realistic video game cutscene, but during some scenes (particularly the opening credits), that kind of look fits pretty nicely, and being fake stop them from still looking visually pleasing, so it’s hard to properly gage them. The music by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe is also pretty good, featuring a retro synth vibe that while not used frequently, does bring a sense of unique life to the film whenever it pops up.

The 2017 film version of Ghost in the Shell is just another example in the long line of failed live-action anime adaptations that are more focused on banking on a name to make money, rather than delivering a popular piece of foreign pop culture in a way that would enhance the story and introduce newcomers to a beloved property they weren’t aware of. As a whole, it’s not the worst offenders of this trend and considering the amount of controversy surrounding it, the fact that it has just been forgotten by the world more than anything proves that it’s not even a film worth getting angry over, but the story is unengaging and despite being faithful, doesn’t feel like it matches the tone or spirit of its original source, the actors aren’t bad, but are too by-the-numbers and predictably harmless to leave any impression, and the visuals at first seem to be pleasant and likeably unique, but fall into expected territories the more the film goes on. A project with little spirit in its empty shell, even for curious fans, this one isn’t worth investigating.