Superhero Media: Ghost In The Shell (2017)

I was going to spend much of this article discussing the various controversies surrounding this version of Ghost In The Shell, but after watching it, I've decided to discuss the merits and flaws of the film here only. The rest of the controversy and how it relates to the broader franchise will be discussed in a "Thinking Out Loud" that I'll try and post close to this so that it makes sense. Based more so on the 1995 Anime than the original Manga, Ghost In The Shell follows the story of The Major and Public Security Section 9 as they chase cyber-terrorists through the canyons and slums of near-future Tokyo. As far as being a Ghost In The Shell story, the film is not great, making several jarring changes for seemingly no reason, then not following them up or doing anything interesting narratively with them. As a general cyberpunk film, however, Ghost In The Shell is pretty damn good, with well-visualised 'net sequences, cool looking cyberwear and lots of funky design elements.

In fact, I've been somewhat struggling with finding inspiration to build and paint stuff for Reality's Edge, a cyberpunk miniatures game that is a lot of fun, but will also take up a lot of time and energy if I let it. Watching Ghost In The Shell, the version of Tokyo presented is well-grounded, with glittering spires of the wealthy abutting slums and squalor, the gleam of Mokoto's synthetic skin contrasted with the dirty cyberwear of the Yakusa thugs. As much as I don't want to be one of "those guys", but if the specific Ghost In The Shell elements were taken out and the film was just about a Cyber Police Squad chasing a terrorist, Ghost In The Shell would be pretty damn enjoyable. The scenes directly taken from the 1995 film are not well done, like the reveal of the garbage man's daughter not existing coming too early and the famous diving scene only being used for exposition.

Probably my favourite scene involves "The Chief" fending off a hit-squad with nothing but an antique revolver and a briefcase; it's a kind of "Yoda with a lightsabre" moment, in that in all my viewing of Ghost In The Shell media, I've assumed The Chief was pretty gangbuster, but it was nice to have it confirmed. I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching Ghost In The Shell, but I doubt that I'll be revisiting it anytime soon, as what charms there are to be found are somewhat shallow. As we shall see, I find much of the controversy surrounding the film to be tiresome, and often seems to take on a tone of political gamesmenship more so than a genuine appreciation for the franchise. With luck, anyone who watched this version will find their way to the 1995 film and the better versions of the Anime that followed on from there.