Ghost in the Shell

I had low anticipations and expected a bad movie when we entered the cinema. Instead I say it is a faithful adaptation and a really good movie. Lets start with the elephant in the room. A lot of people said Scarlett Johansson as main character was “whitewashing”. Those have not seen the movie or understood the story. It is a fundamental point in the story, logical and functional. I give an explanation at the end with a spoiler warning. Back to the review. Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite franchise. I see it as a realistic prediction of the future except that I think those changes will take longer in real life. It is based on the Manga by Masamune Shirow and the Anime from 1995 is a true masterpiece. It has a Cyberpunk setting and plays in 2029. Many humans have augmented bodies (Cyborgs) as those have advantages like computer interfaces, more durability, strength and adaptations for many tasks. Unmodified humans are already viewed as inferior. However crime has also evolved as you can hack into these parts or brains or use those augmented bodies for crimes not possible before. The main characters work for the special unit Section 9 that is specialized in those fields. Protagonist Miria Killian is the first human with a fully artificial body (except brain) who got it after surviving a terrorist attack as she and her family searched refuge in Japan. She works for Section 9 and is indebted to Hanka Robotics who gave her the new body. As they explore a crime she finds strange traces that will change everything. I end this here to avoid spoilers. The story is different from the Anime and I say it is a good decision as they cant improve the original. Other adaptations failed horrible in this regard. The story is familiar and refreshing at the same time. It works from start to finish and we left very satisfied the cinema. The actors are well chosen. Scarlett Johansson is brilliantly good and I see this as strength of the movie. Pilou Asbaek is a fitting Batou that nails his role. Takeshi Kitano is one of my favorite actors and that he plays Daisuke Aramaki is incredibly good. I must also praise Juliette Binoche as Dr. Ouelet and Peter Ferdinando as Cutter. A truly good cats. The sets, costumes and special effects capture the feeling of the source material and enhance the movie. Overall I see this as one of a few good live action adaptations and like that they do not attempt to improve the original. Compare it to Cowboy Bebop for example. I give a 10/10 as it was a positive surprise. Spoiler warning: The experiments with the artificial bodies by Hanka Robotics are highly risky and have a lot of illegal components. They wanted human guinea pigs that will not be missed. They use members of an underground movement that protested against the government as those will not be missed in a greater scale. Even more they hide Motoko Kusanagi as Mira Killian who is a foreigner and refuge that has no relatives. If something happens to her not many questions will be asked. Just look how refugees are treated in the EU, USA or other countries and no one cares in a greater scale (Observations not my beliefs!)

+ Pretty good Visuals + Story well adopted + Imo the ethical Questions are better in Focus + i like the ending more