3.5 Out of 5 Stars
Last week saw the release of one of my most anticipated films of the year the controversial live-action adaption of Masamune Shirow’s seminal cyberpunk manga, Ghost in the Shell. Running from April 1989 to November 1990 in Japan, the original manga series was a lush philosophical meditation on the side effects of identity in a future where everyone is connected via a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life. The property that seems to become more and more relevant with every passing day has finally been channeled into a live action form, directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Scarlett Johansson.

The film takes place in a place in a not too distant future where the world has begun to embrace the idea of cybernetic enhancement. Hanka Robotics has unveiled the next step in our evolution through Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson), the sole survivor of a cyberterrorist attack whose brain was placed in a state of the art cyborg body to save her life. The first of her kind, The Major is assigned to the anti-terrorist bureau Section 9 after her recovery where she is tasked with investigating a series of murders that are claiming senior members of Hanka Robotics. The trail of bodies seems to lead to a hacker known as Kuze, and their ties with a mysterious Project 2571.

The film pulls from the many different iterations of the property crafting a coherent and satisfying narrative that feels equal parts pulled from the anime series and feature as Major races to stop Kuze before he kills again. The script here sides on the more action, techno-thriller side as to not get too weighed down by the film’s philosophical underpinnings. While some may cry foul, I just have to point to Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, the sequel to the original film that collapsed under its dense ideology since the film was so focused on ideas its forgot to tell a truly compelling story. Along the way the film culls some of the most iconic visual moments from the property to fuel this origin story that hopes to be a springboard for future films.


While some unfamiliar with the property have an issue with the casting of Scarlett Johansson due to Hollywood’s current epidemic whitewashing of Asian characters, I feel the film’s script is surprisingly aware of this. Also, I feel this take on the character actually makes sense since the Major could be anyone because the body is essentially nothing but a shell. We could also dig deeper in the properties other questions on what constitutes identity, a soul and what makes us human that the series also plays with, but suffice to say Scarlett Johansson has already proved she has the action chops and does the Major justice. She is joined by a great ensemble as her fellow team members of Section 9 that really fill out the world including Pilou Asbæk as Batou, Chin Han as Togusa and finally the iconic “Beat” Takeshi Kitano as Chief Daisuke Aramaic who is a joy on screen.

When we talk about adaptations what we assume is the director is going to take what we know as a base and then build heavily upon that, usually making the source almost unrecognizable. For Ghost in the Shell Rupert Sanders used much of the same look and design that fans know and love from the film and TV series, just punching them up a bit to translate to live action. It’s a very faithful take that thanks to a script could be one of the most faithful anime adaptions to be produced in the US to date. While Ghost in the Shell felt a little rough in the beginning, once the story gets a foothold the film falls into very familiar territory for fans of the series as Section 9 must go rogue to get to the bottom of these murders. Ghost in the Shell is a worthy take on the iconic property that is the perfect vehicle for Johansson who brings her action A-game for a futuristic thrill ride that won’t disappoint.