Not surprising. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it when I was watching it last week, but I knew something was off. There was a lot of appeal for sci fi nerds like me but it was lacking in terms of broad based appeal. It’s always a bit of a roll of a dice when you make a sci fi film, usually the stuff that kids are into, but make it adult oriented. The film was PG but the plot was high falutin’.
It asks the audience to ponder a lot of questions about life and death and also to hope for a day when our frail, limited bodies can be enhanced and kept alive permanently via technology, as well as what benefits and drawbacks would result from that.
By the way, I said in my previous review that there was a subtle explanation in the film as to why a Japanese character was played by ScarJo, a honky. Remember, I can say honky for I am a honky.
Here’s the explanation. Look away if you don’t want spoilers.
So, the key is to remember that Major is a robot. She’s told when she wakes up that her brain is that of a refugee whose boat was blown up by a terrorist, leaving her parents dead in the process. It’s not said out loud but one wonders whether in the future there might have been some type of catastrophe in one of the honky majority countries, thus causing honkies to immigrate to Japan, possibly explaining why there are so many honkies running around Japan.
Later, we learn Major was lied to. Her brain once belonged to Motoko, a Japanese runaway. The corporation claimed it only experimented on brains of those who had already died when in fact, they were kidnapping runaway kids and taking their brains out.
It’s never said directly, but one is left to wonder whether Major, the body Motoko’s brain is placed into, is a white supermodel looking babe out of some misguided corporate sense that this is the height of beauty that everyone should aspire to.
Thus, this is why ScarJo played the robot.
I suppose it’s up for interpretation. If you saw it, tell me yours.
Now that I have your attention, BQB here with a review of the sci-fi film, Ghost in the Shell.
OK. I fibbed. Scarlett Johansson isn’t naked in this movie. Here’s how I assume the conversation went down at the studio:
HOLLYWOOD SUIT #1 – Can we make a movie where Scarlett Johansson runs around naked for half the entire film?
HOLLYWOOD SUIT #2 – Yes, but it would be classified as a porn.
HOLLYWOOD SUIT #1 – Hmm. OK. What if Scarlett Johansson is a robot and runs around in a flesh colored body suit? She wouldn’t technically be naked because as a robot, she wouldn’t have nipples, or a butt crack or a cooter?
HOLLYWOOD SUIT #1 – PG-13 – Bring the teenagers!
Ahh, so much controversy and hype over this long awaited film.
Allow me to answer your questions…or my questions…since no one is asking questions.
QUESTION #1 – What the hell is this movie about?
Excellent question, me. This film is based on a popular Japanese franchise (gotta be honest, I’m not hip enough to be able to tell you for sure if it was a comic book, anime cartoon, or both, though I’m leaning to comic book).
ScarJo stars as Major, a Japanese government agent with a synthetic body controlled by a human brain. She is the result of an experiment by the Hanko Corporation, an effort to put a brain into a robot and represents a hope that the technology that made her will eventually keep all humans from dying – i.e. their brains can just be put into robots when their bodies wear out. If her brain is a “ghost” or remnant of a human, and the body is a “shell,” then she is the…wait for it…ghost in the shell.
There’s a villain taking out the scientists who made her. She must investigate with the help of her trusty sidekick Batou (Pilou Asbaek), a muscle bound, bleach blonde weirdo.
Question #2 – Was it a dick move to cast ScarJo, a honky, in the lead role in a film that takes place in Japan, especially when in the original, the character is Japanese?
Yes and no. I can see both sides. By the way, I can say “honky” because I am one. That’s OUR word!
THE ARGUMENT FOR YES – There are so few lead roles for Asian actors/actresses as it is. A few years back, an Asian actress would have loved to play the female lead in Aloha, but instead, for reasons yet to be explained, Emma Stone was cast as a Hawaiian. Earlier this year, Matt Damon saved the Great Wall of China. And now, ScarJo, who is pretty much the female lead in like, everything, is cast in a part that would have made an Asian actress’ career.
Plus, although the film takes place in Japan, there are honkies, honkies everywhere! It’s a veritable honky fest. Though there are a number of Asians in the film, there’s only one who has any considerable amount of screen time. That’s Takeshi Kitano, by the way, who plays the gruff and grizzled Aramaki, the leader of Major’s unit.
So while I could understand the argument of, “Hey, the studio is dumping a shit ton of dough into this movie so they want a lead actress with a proven track record of putting butts in seats,” I don’t understand why more of the supporting cast couldn’t have been Asian.
THE ARGUMENT FOR NO – I believe, in a subtle, understated way, the film does provide an explanation as to why the lead character is a honky. There’s even an explanation as to why there are so many honkies running around Japan. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, so maybe I can get into this after the movie’s been out for awhile.
QUESTION #3 – Is the movie any good?
Also, yes and no.
THE ARGUMENT FOR YES – Its colorful. The special effects are amazing. The fight scenes are dazzling. It raises a lot of interesting questions about the future of humanity.
THE ARGUMENT FOR NO – There were a lot of times where the film feels like a discount version of Blade Runner. All of the giant holographic billboards are a dead giveaway. Also, the plot is confusing. There are some parts where the film drags and others where it moves quicker than I would have liked it to. I was left puzzled by a lot of things, yet not caring enough to expend the brain cells necessary to sort it all out.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy. I liked it, though the only reason why I would watch it again is to see a technically naked ScarJo. Maybe in the sequel, they can give her nipples, a butt crack, and a cooter.
BQB here, 3.5 readers and I’m just taking a peak at the Ghost in the Shell trailer, the film based off of the Japanese manga series of the same name.
Looks cool, I suppose for those of you into Japanese cartoons (that’s one nerd trend that never appealed to me but to each their own) this won’t be new to you but it’s new to me and that’s why I dig it, it looks like something fresh, that the general moviegoing public hasn’t seen before (though apparently there was a toon version of the movie in 1995.)
It looks like it has just a hint of Blade Runner influence if you ask me.
Bookshelf Battle 