Stunning Visuals, Awesome Tone, and Captivating Story; "Ghost in the Shell" is Worth Seeing

   Ghost in the Shell is the latest live-action adaptation of a beloved anime that hopes to transcend the stigma that anime cannot be remade properly in live-action. Personally I haven't caught the anime bug. That's not to say that I don't think it's a viable form of entertainment. I whole-heartily respect the genre and what it has done for storytelling, but it's just not something I have actively pursued. From what I hear from friends and people who do love anime, almost every live-action version fails miserably to capture the magic of the original. Whether Ghost in the Shell does that is for the fans of the original to decide. As for me, I'm looking at this simply as a movie, and as a movie it's pretty good.

   The story takes place in a plausible near future. Humans can upgrade their bodies with cybernetic parts, enhancing their experience in life. Our protagonist is Major (Scarlett Johansson), the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals. Her brain and her soul, or "ghost" are the only things to have survived from her human body, and everything else is enhanced. Created to be a super weapon -- with cloaking abilities, spot-on aim, and agility to boot -- she is a force to be reckoned with. When a new terrorist threat reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people's minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it. Only, doing so will uncover truths that may or may not effect her perspective on her new lease-on-life.

   The tone of this movie is really cool. There's a Blade Runner/noir vibe to the entire story, and that honestly surprised me a bit. Again, I knew nothing about the original before hand, and I think I was suspecting something...well, honestly I don't know what I was suspecting. But I was pleasantly surprised. The premise is really intriguing, and the tone stays constant throughout. The action is really, really cool and yet it serves the story well, not taking away or distracting from the story at all. Scarlett Johansson has proven that she can do action, act, and carry a movie, and she does a really good job here. The idea that a conscious mind can be placed inside a sophisticated robot lends to some intriguing ethical and phsycological choices. How does one handle the shock of dealing with a completely cyber-enhanced body? Does the soul really still exist? Are you still human if all that is left of your human self is your brain? The film does a great job at exploring these questions, but in a subversive way along the flowing narrative, making the story that much more complex and entertaining.

   Visually speaking, this movie is gorgeous. I recommend seeing this in IMAX 3D or some other form of higher definition. I watched it on a normal screen and it was still stunning, but the whole time I was thinking "Man, this would be awesome in IMAX." As the camera swoops down and around the futuristic cityscape, there is so much going on around you visually that it's hard to catch everything. During these scenes the screen is saturated with bustling crowds and a slew of advertisements for various things that it almost feels congested, claustrophobic. Man's need to expand technology and enhance the human experience is present throughout the film, acting as an undercurrent to the overall narrative. The cinematography is really well done, and the action sequences are a blast to watch. The movie takes its time to flesh out the characters and to allow the story to unfold organically. Whether or not fans of the original will like this movie doesn't take away from the fact that it's still a well-crafted sci-fi/action/noir. I found it truly entertaining, and I think most people will, too.