Ghost in the Shell

Style over Substance Where it Counts                               3/5



Soundtrack
     This may be one of the best scores Ive heard all year!

Cinematography
     Finally a movie that gets slow motion right

Science Fiction
     While its themes are not fully cohesive at time, its the thought that counts with sci-fi 

Rotten Tomatoes 46%                                  Cinemascore: B

While never as smart as it thinks it is, Ghost in the Shell is a competently made adaptation that does justice to the original source material by recreating and reimagine its cyber punk world within the medium of modern sci-fi. It's style over substance 101, but thats not a bad thing when the execution is on point.

Scarlett Johansson plays front in center in Ghost in the Shell as the Major, a cyborg with a human brain who is employed to Section 9 to up hold the law (Im starting to see parallels to Robocop). The plot comes a knocking however when a cyber terrorist named Kuze (Pitt) starts crossing off high level officials of Hanka Robotics. As the Major gets closer to Kuze, she begins to realize just how similar they are, and that the real enemy might be someone else entirely.

Ghost in the Shell is a very well directed film. Cinematography is on point, the editing tight but free enough to allow each shot to breath. The hyper capitalistic world depicted in Ghost in the Shell is terrifically realized, and the only time when the cinematography drops is during one of the films few action scenes, one of which involves a strobe effect I suspect hiding poor stunt work. Fortunately Ghost in the Shell is more sci-fi than action film, and though the cometary is relatively weak for the genre, it still makes it's self coherent enough to follow with ease. Aside from the cinematography and world design, Ghost in the Shells strongest attribute is its soundtrack, a gorgeous compilation of sudo techno rhythm orchestrated by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe. Perhaps the greatest tragedy to befall Ghost in the Shell due to its abysmal opening may be that the distribution of the original motion picture soundtrack has been canceled as a result.

Ghost in the Shell will not be the best science fiction film of the year, nor is it the best movie in theaters right now. Ghost in the Shell is however an extremely ambitious visual adaptation of the original Manga, one that evokes more feeling than thought, and that alone is why I think I enjoyed it enough to recomend it. Complimentary to many of the platters offered at cinema's right now, Ghost in the Shell offers something a little bit different, a dish thats a little light in quantity but appetizing none the less and worth taking a bite.