A flimsy copy of a copy, one that recreates some of the anime's set-pieces nearly shot for shot, but then pares away nearly everything else that made the original a classic.- David Sims, The Atlantic
It's unfortunate, if
predictable, that Hollywood found it necessary to almost entirely
eliminate deep think in favor of deep action. Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, C
Through its treatment of its franchise's history, the movie succeeds in some ways -- and crucially fails in others.- Kwame Opam, The Verge
A hot mess of a philosophical cyber-thriller....Some cool visuals, though.- Matthew Lickona, San Diego Reader, 1/5
An inert, insulting appropriation of what is one of the 20th century's most influential works of pop art.- Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail, 1.5/4
Ghost in the Shell boasts cool visuals and a compelling central performance from Scarlett Johansson, but the end result lacks the magic of the movie's classic source material.- Rotten Tomatoes, 41%
Things aren't looking too good right now. As this month draws to a close, the live-action Ghost in the Shell remake has received largely negative reviews; after the embargo was broken yesterday. This is just a small sample of the negative reviews that the film has gotten, but even the positive reviews have been drawing similar conclusions. The constants that I've noticed the most are praising the action and special effects but criticizing the liberties taken with the story and characterization of the original 1995 film and the original manga. At best, people have simply panned the reversion of Mamoru Oshii's classic vision of the future as dull and uninvolving compared to the original anime. At worst, it takes every problem that people were concerned about and makes them far worse than one could ever imagine.
While many were wondering if the controversy about the production would have an impact on the film; it seems the skepticism myself and others had was justified. With just a meager $1.8 million dollars earned from previews last night, the film is on track to open below the continued runs of Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers (I loved the latter, plan on seeing the former this weekend) as well as a new release of Dreamworks' own The Boss Baby (while no masterpiece itself, it's pretty damning that more people are interested in seeing Alec Baldwin as an infant in a position of power than Scarlett Johansson in a $110 million effects-driven tentpole action film).
So, as I get ready to watch the 1995 movie again as well as rewatch The Matrix for the umpteenth time since I was 11 (the Wachowskis openly admitted to the original film heavily influencing the series, and I think it's a much better live-action remake in light of this news); I will do a post on the box office on Monday afternoon. I'm also starting school again on Tuesday, but I will have a lighter course load than Winter Term to help catch up here (I thankfully passed all my classes despite some of the setbacks I faced). One last thing: I have had no luck in having my primary computer fixed yet, so I'm writing this on my old one. While the functionality is a bit more limited than I'd like, I will try to eke out some of the recaps I wanted to do in April. That will be all for now. See you, space cowboy.
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