Ghost in the Shell

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Ghost in the Shell is based off of the acclaimed anime of the same name. It centers on a character named major (played by Scarlett Johansson) who is essentially a cyborg. She works as something of a police officer trying to get to the bottom of a mystery involving a mysterious hacker known as Kuze (played by Michael Pitt). Visually, this movie is stunning. At this point in time, the effects are amazing. Scarlett Johansson as the major is really good, and actually does a solid job carrying the movie. You understand that she does have a mix of human and robotic emotions. Out of all the characters in the movie, she is the most well rounded and developed. The action sequences are pretty good too. They are very well handled, and have little to no shaky cam. The pacing of the movie is easily its biggest issue. The way this movie is structured feels very sloppy. It comes off as less of a flowing narrative, and more like they had multiple movies crammed into one 2-hour film. It just didn’t work as well as it should have. This is a movie that could have been a lot stronger than it actually was. In case you are wondering, no I never saw the original anime. I went into this with no prior connotations or connections. The final result was a movie that I can only describe as “OK.” I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I thought it was visually stunning and had some solid acting, but felt a bit too messy when it came to the plot.   

6 / 10