The film opens with a reasonably faithful recreation of the famous "shelling" sequence, which shows the assembly of the robotic body of the Major; played by Scarlett Johansson. The film does explain that as in prior films, the body is a "shell" that contains the mind or "ghost" of another person. I have something prepared for later, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. That is your one spoiler warning, since I will be addressing the infamous third act as well as comparing scenes from the original film when I have to. This process is also a result of a venture in a plot point not from the source material, where Dr. Ouelet, played by Juliette Binoche has a disagreement with a backer from Hanka robotics known as Cutter, played by Peter Ferdinando over how to employ the Major. Given how Hanka is shown to be a police and military defense contractor in this film; this will also come up when the time comes.
Interestingly, rather than showing how the Major will deal with this scenario; it cuts to a year later, no questions asked. I've pointed out before that I'm not a terribly big fan of informed attributes, and this film's take on the original's famous dive sequence is significantly altered as I'm about to tell you. I also want to make clear that even though I have mixed feelings toward the casting, that's actually not the main problem with the film even if it's one that it was never able to fully overcome.
I will give the film this, though: the visuals and special effects are impressive. WETA's CGI and practical special effects are quite snazzy; given the studio's work on films such as Avatar and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The near-future vision of Hong Kong is probably one of the best things about the film: massive cityscapes of neon and fiberglass, holographic advertisements as tall as the Chrysler building, 3D koi the size of a Buick; they definitely got their money's worth. Still, the film is definitely not the best take on this story, and now I will start with my look at the dive.
Rather than a group of diplomats like in the original, the film's targets are apparently fellow employees of Hanka robotics. Dr. Osmond, played by Michael Wincott in his one scene is trying to work out a contract with the president of the African federation, and the waitresses in the hotel are a group of robotic geisha (a recurring kind of cybernetic character in the franchise), portrayed collectively by Rila Fukushima.
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| (Sighs) This is going to be a long 107 minutes, isn't it? |
As the Major surveys the dinner meeting, her CO Aramaki; played by living legend Takeshi "Beat" Kitano briefs her on the situation before she makes her move. Even though his portrayal takes some liberties with the source material, I can honestly say that he's probably the best actor in the movie. To my knowledge, he may be multilingual; but even he knew this script wasn't worth speaking English for. As a result, even though he speaks Japanese throughout the movie; much like in the Star Wars films, everyone can still understand him. I guess lingua code is standard for cyber enhancements, apparently.
Before she makes the dive, we get the film's take on the spies planted in the meeting; and the changes also impact how this scene plays out: rather than the police, the spies just eliminate two inept guards outside the meeting. As the Major removes her trench coat to make the dive; while she was practically naked in the original; understandably, her costume uses CGI and carefully placed prosthetics and makeup to obscure her "naughty bits" in a similar fashion to Mystique in the X-men films; because PG13.
Despite Aramaki's objections, Major dives into the banquet room just as the robotic geishas reveal themselves; and hack Osmond and several others attending the banquet. I don't know, it made more sense in the original.
To be fair, the action scene that shows the Major gunning down the robotic geishas actually isn't that bad; though it's quite clear a lot of this scene, much like the film itself is dampened by coming out after The Matrix; which was ironically influenced by the original Ghost in the Shell anime and manga.
After that, we then get this film's take on the subplot with the sanitation workers, and even though it's slick from a purely aesthetic point of view; it's clear to me that it's a big example of how the film has much greater problems than the casting, and the scene illustrates how the story and characterization were what I was really worried about. As I've feared, my skepticism was totally justified.
Before she makes the dive, we get the film's take on the spies planted in the meeting; and the changes also impact how this scene plays out: rather than the police, the spies just eliminate two inept guards outside the meeting. As the Major removes her trench coat to make the dive; while she was practically naked in the original; understandably, her costume uses CGI and carefully placed prosthetics and makeup to obscure her "naughty bits" in a similar fashion to Mystique in the X-men films; because PG13.
Despite Aramaki's objections, Major dives into the banquet room just as the robotic geishas reveal themselves; and hack Osmond and several others attending the banquet. I don't know, it made more sense in the original.
To be fair, the action scene that shows the Major gunning down the robotic geishas actually isn't that bad; though it's quite clear a lot of this scene, much like the film itself is dampened by coming out after The Matrix; which was ironically influenced by the original Ghost in the Shell anime and manga.
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| Boy, I thought the screen test for Zero Suit Samus would be cooler than this. |
After a message from the last geisha before the Major kills it; the attack is investigated by Section 9, and in this film; Togusa is played by character actor Chin Han, who played Lau in my favorite film, The Dark Knight. Apparently, being "good with calculation" also gives one adept skill at forensics, as a holographic reconstruction of the crime scene reveals that more of Hanka's scientists have been killed.
Then, after a bizarre scene involving what's left of the last robotic geisha; the Major and Batou, played by Pilou Asbaek, follow a lead to a yakuza nightclub. This is a very strange movie, in case you can't tell. Even though there are many impressive visuals, it seems like elements from the original are merged with Blade Runner by way of the Matrix trilogy.
The ensuing fight in the club also reveals that the lead was a red herring that resulted in Batou getting his bionic eyes. Again, this rationale was not in the original; though I did get a chuckle out of a scene where the Major gives Batou the finger to test his new vision. I'm not entirely sure that Scarlett was acting there: I think she was genuinely annoyed by the production and the gesture somehow made the final cut.
After that, we then get this film's take on the subplot with the sanitation workers, and even though it's slick from a purely aesthetic point of view; it's clear to me that it's a big example of how the film has much greater problems than the casting, and the scene illustrates how the story and characterization were what I was really worried about. As I've feared, my skepticism was totally justified.
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| Courtesy: IGN Youtube Channel |
This also extends to the fight scene in the body of water: while it does sport some relatively slick gunplay and fight choreography; the original film built up to this moment by taking the time to let us know what the characters were like: not just in the case of the Major and Batou, but the sanitation workers as well. Nerdwriter1 has a very good summary of how the film lacks the same impact as its senior, using this scene to illustrate this point. You can see the video here.
That's essentially my main issue with this film: more than the casting or accusations of "cultural appropriation," is the simple problem of how the storytelling and characterization strengths of the original are sacrificed in favor of visual spectacle. However, by making this change; it totally misunderstands how closely linked the visuals were to the story of its namesake. Even though I've fairly recently seen the original film this year, it still blows me away every time I put it on. There are many scenes which have little to no dialogue, yet I am totally invested as a viewer.
This can definitely be illustrated by my favorite part in the original: the scene on Batou's boat. In the original film, it leads to character development for him and the Major; and it displays the main theme of the movie in the way they behave. Despite being a lethal machine, the dive Major takes shows how fear of drowning is something she can never experience, given how even with a PFD; she can take pressure and depth that could suffocate or crush an ordinary person. Likewise, due to their enhanced livers; they can metabolize the alcohol they drink in amounts that would be fatal to anyone else. In the new film, however; the dialogue between them is entirely different, even if Sanders does at least try to recreate the scene from a technical standpoint. The cybernetic liver is also played as a joke by another member of Section 9, but the delivery falls flat and doesn't make much sense in the context it's presented.
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| The 1995 dive scene. |
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| The 2017 dive scene. |
That was something that concerned me a lot more than the casting when I first heard about the film: how the story and characters were handled. A good way to demonstrate this would be the antagonist of each film. While Kuze in the new film, played by Michael Pitt may not be the worst villain I've seen, he does take many liberties from his counterpart in the Stand Alone Complex TV series, which I absolutely love. Moreover, it's not quite the same as the Puppet Master from the original film. Both of these films have their own ways of using machines to explore humanity in the cybernetic age, but the original earned its big moment not only with spectacular visuals, but also how that villain had no form of its own. It was essentially data in cyberspace that wanted to know what it meant to be human. As we reach the denouement of this film, however; I now must discuss the remake's infamous third act, and how it took the film from merely being disappointing to being outright bad in my eyes.
While Cutter orders Dr. Ouelet to terminate the Major, she instead gives the Major the information to find her past, which leads to Section 9 being compromised. However, amid all the changes the film made, there is one thing I like: when Hanka's assassins try to kill Aramaki, Aramaki instead gets the upper hand. I would keep riffing, but I think I will let Beat speak for himself.
While Cutter orders Dr. Ouelet to terminate the Major, she instead gives the Major the information to find her past, which leads to Section 9 being compromised. However, amid all the changes the film made, there is one thing I like: when Hanka's assassins try to kill Aramaki, Aramaki instead gets the upper hand. I would keep riffing, but I think I will let Beat speak for himself.
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| Aramaki (In Japanese): "Don't send a rabbit to kill a fox." |
Takeshi "Beat" Kitano is awesome.
Now, we get the infamous twist of the film. (Sighs) Not going to lie, the justification for the Major's change in casting actually raises more questions than it answers.
So, Major visits an old apartment; based on the information that Dr. Ouelet gave her, she finds the home of Mrs. Kusanagi; and it just happens to be one year after the death of her daughter, whose name is Motoko. (sighs)
For those of you playing at home, the justification the filmmakers gave for casting ScarJo in the context of the film was essentially that the Major is a title that represents a human mind in a cybernetic body; something that could have worked and even earned the approval of Mamoru Oshii, the director of the original film.
Then, in comes this scene, and by extension the final act; which reveals that the mind did indeed belong to the namesake character of the source material, Motoko Kusanagi. There are many implications here, and none of them are good. Furthermore, even though this could have presented an opportunity to expand on the source material's themes on what it means to be human in the machine age; there are several problems with this explanation: 1. Why would Hanka robotics just kidnap someone they found on the street to experiment with? The film outright shows they're a large company with defense contracts in the military and police, so they could have used a pool of those, or even cadavers. 2. Why is the Major so ambivalent about finding out her entire life is a lie? This also is a problem with how they handled Kuze, who we find out in the denoument is actually named Hideo; and has a similar reaction despite the toll Hanka's experiments took on him. 3. Moreover, in the final scene of the film, why is Mrs. Kusanagi so accepting of being told she no longer needs to come to her daughter's grave after Major tells her the truth?
Beyond all this, however, is a problem that is not solely related to the casting controversy. The fact that someone believed that people would actually be willing to see an adaptation of such an influential work not only be given controversial casting for the sake of potential box office (reasoning rendered useless by the film being a box office disaster; which Paramount eventually admitted to), but also stripped of everything that made its senior so beloved is astonishing. Given how the original was a key influence on similar films such as The Matrix Trilogy, AI: Artificial Intelligence, and the 2004 version of I, Robot; among others, it's a shame that this story couldn't have been done justice. Given how long the remake was in development Hell before all this happened, maybe they should have just left well-enough alone.
Given how instead of a planned franchise, a new anime from the makers of the Stand Alone Complex TV series is being made; I can agree with what the Agony Booth once said about the matter: "Possibly the most damning evidence against this movie is that they're going right to rebooting the franchise. It committed movie-suicide in only one installment."
As the credits roll, I shall definitely wrap this up with some final thoughts: obviously, as a fan of the source material, I didn't really enjoy the creative liberties that were taken with the story; since the "Mira Killian" conundrum was honestly the least of this movie's problems for me. The story made no sense, the characterization was minimal at best, and I think saying most of the performances were phoned in would actually be disservice to that phrase. It's more like they were tweeted in.
The same can also be said with how I feel about the movie on its own merit. It's one of those films where it's only slightly as dull as looking at a blank screen for an hour and 47 minutes, though at least the blank screen gives me room to imagine an alternate universe of this film.
Still, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen. I've seen much worse and covered much worse on and off this blog. It's not totally without merit: the visuals and special effects are quite impressive; with WETA showing off a good blend of CGI and practical effects, given their work on films such as Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Takeshi "Beat" Kitano as Aramaki was probably my favorite character in this film; since the man has had a very distinguished career in his lifetime. Also, the music was quite good. It may not be the same haunting mix of synthesizers and Japanese tribal music that Kenji Kawai brought to the original, but Lorne Balfe and Clint Mansell did manage to at least try to adapt his style as well as capture what people might listen to in a near-future version of Hong Kong.
Overall, though; it's a film that for me at least, just doesn't have the same appeal to me as the original does. Basically, I have a similar opinion on it that I do for the recent remakes of Robocop and Total Recall: the finer points of the original R-rated classic are sacrificed for overblown PG-13 action. It essentially became the very thing the original broke the boundaries of. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the original film, and the 28th anniversary of the publication of the original manga. Both of those works, as well as Stand Alone Complex definitely stand alongside works such as the original Blade Runner and the first two Terminator films in how machines can be every bit as human as we are. I can easily come back to them again and again and still find things that intrigue me. This film, however is among one of the most disappointing films of 2017 in my book. One last thing before I sign off and work on my next posts: the trailer that was posted last year, which led to all this, did have a good remix of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" by KI Theory. I will post a link of it, and though I haven't done that much live-action coverage here before; this experiment will continue with my riff of the Netflix Death Note remake. That will be all for now. Bang.
So, Major visits an old apartment; based on the information that Dr. Ouelet gave her, she finds the home of Mrs. Kusanagi; and it just happens to be one year after the death of her daughter, whose name is Motoko. (sighs)
For those of you playing at home, the justification the filmmakers gave for casting ScarJo in the context of the film was essentially that the Major is a title that represents a human mind in a cybernetic body; something that could have worked and even earned the approval of Mamoru Oshii, the director of the original film.
Then, in comes this scene, and by extension the final act; which reveals that the mind did indeed belong to the namesake character of the source material, Motoko Kusanagi. There are many implications here, and none of them are good. Furthermore, even though this could have presented an opportunity to expand on the source material's themes on what it means to be human in the machine age; there are several problems with this explanation: 1. Why would Hanka robotics just kidnap someone they found on the street to experiment with? The film outright shows they're a large company with defense contracts in the military and police, so they could have used a pool of those, or even cadavers. 2. Why is the Major so ambivalent about finding out her entire life is a lie? This also is a problem with how they handled Kuze, who we find out in the denoument is actually named Hideo; and has a similar reaction despite the toll Hanka's experiments took on him. 3. Moreover, in the final scene of the film, why is Mrs. Kusanagi so accepting of being told she no longer needs to come to her daughter's grave after Major tells her the truth?
Beyond all this, however, is a problem that is not solely related to the casting controversy. The fact that someone believed that people would actually be willing to see an adaptation of such an influential work not only be given controversial casting for the sake of potential box office (reasoning rendered useless by the film being a box office disaster; which Paramount eventually admitted to), but also stripped of everything that made its senior so beloved is astonishing. Given how the original was a key influence on similar films such as The Matrix Trilogy, AI: Artificial Intelligence, and the 2004 version of I, Robot; among others, it's a shame that this story couldn't have been done justice. Given how long the remake was in development Hell before all this happened, maybe they should have just left well-enough alone.
Given how instead of a planned franchise, a new anime from the makers of the Stand Alone Complex TV series is being made; I can agree with what the Agony Booth once said about the matter: "Possibly the most damning evidence against this movie is that they're going right to rebooting the franchise. It committed movie-suicide in only one installment."
As the credits roll, I shall definitely wrap this up with some final thoughts: obviously, as a fan of the source material, I didn't really enjoy the creative liberties that were taken with the story; since the "Mira Killian" conundrum was honestly the least of this movie's problems for me. The story made no sense, the characterization was minimal at best, and I think saying most of the performances were phoned in would actually be disservice to that phrase. It's more like they were tweeted in.
The same can also be said with how I feel about the movie on its own merit. It's one of those films where it's only slightly as dull as looking at a blank screen for an hour and 47 minutes, though at least the blank screen gives me room to imagine an alternate universe of this film.
Still, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen. I've seen much worse and covered much worse on and off this blog. It's not totally without merit: the visuals and special effects are quite impressive; with WETA showing off a good blend of CGI and practical effects, given their work on films such as Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Takeshi "Beat" Kitano as Aramaki was probably my favorite character in this film; since the man has had a very distinguished career in his lifetime. Also, the music was quite good. It may not be the same haunting mix of synthesizers and Japanese tribal music that Kenji Kawai brought to the original, but Lorne Balfe and Clint Mansell did manage to at least try to adapt his style as well as capture what people might listen to in a near-future version of Hong Kong.
Overall, though; it's a film that for me at least, just doesn't have the same appeal to me as the original does. Basically, I have a similar opinion on it that I do for the recent remakes of Robocop and Total Recall: the finer points of the original R-rated classic are sacrificed for overblown PG-13 action. It essentially became the very thing the original broke the boundaries of. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the original film, and the 28th anniversary of the publication of the original manga. Both of those works, as well as Stand Alone Complex definitely stand alongside works such as the original Blade Runner and the first two Terminator films in how machines can be every bit as human as we are. I can easily come back to them again and again and still find things that intrigue me. This film, however is among one of the most disappointing films of 2017 in my book. One last thing before I sign off and work on my next posts: the trailer that was posted last year, which led to all this, did have a good remix of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" by KI Theory. I will post a link of it, and though I haven't done that much live-action coverage here before; this experiment will continue with my riff of the Netflix Death Note remake. That will be all for now. Bang.
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