GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0

Shortly before the turn of the century the Internet revolutionized the way humans exchange information. In many respects, mankind managed to create a world parallel to our own. There have been countless works of fiction devoted to expounding upon the implications of our inception of virtual reality, the book Neuromancer being among the earliest examples. Human beings, as such fictional works continue to demonstrate, are inherently curious as to what our lives can evolve into if only we were able to directly connect with this intangible network of raw data. As confusing as it is for some to define what "life" and "humanity" are, imagine the complications that would arise if people had to include machine technology into such an equation. Mamoru Oshii directs the film adaptation of Shirow Masamune's original Ghost in the Shell manga, which addresses questions about the meaning of life that will be pertinent for many years to come.

Motoko Kusanagi, our protagonist.

This review specifically engages the remastered edition of the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell film, hence Ghost in the Shell 2.0. That point aside, the narrative is the same. The film takes place in Japan in the year 2029. At this point in time humans have managed to successfully join human flesh and consciousness into machinery, so much so that many people have at least some form of cybernetic implants within them. The story revolves around Section 9, an anti-terrorism unit tracking down a person attempting to "ghost hack" (taking over one's consciousness) the interpreter for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Section 9 suspects this might be the work of the Puppet Master, an impossibly skillful hacker, and they believe he meant to control the interpreter so that she can kill a foreign diplomat the Minister is scheduled to meet. What Section 9 uncovers about the Puppet Master is what makes the film so profound: the Puppet Master is an artificial intelligence that claims to be sentient.


The tale is rather straight-forward and not too complex if one pays close attention to the boring and seemingly irrelevant political jargon the film starts off with. The story is based on several short stories that composed the Ghost in the Shell manga. Those who have read the manga and follow the Ghost in the Shell multimedia franchise come into this film with a slight advantage; Shirow Masamune's vision of the future is rich, with a developed political landscape and technological innovations unimaginable. The only issues newcomers would encounter is the referral to the human consciousness or soul as a "ghost". The term is most often used by Major Motoko Kusanagi, the female protagonist. She constantly follows her intuition or instincts, or in other words, her ghost frequently "whispers" to her and she follows what her ghost is saying. The simple task of switching "ghost" with "consciousness" makes the rest of the film a lot easier to understand.

The film deals with some heavy philosophical and ethical themes, which elevates it far above what people normally consider animation to be: childish and without relevance to mature, important matters. Motoko Kusanagi, for example, goes through an existential crisis as she ponders on the myriad cybernetics at work within her body. She doesn't know whether or not her thoughts are really her own or if they are a result of complex programming codes. The moments in which she expresses her frustrations are somewhat unnatural and forced, as if she carefully planned to tell people. The odd dialogue is a consequence of both bad writing and film length, which clocks in at under ninety minutes. It's a shame because Motoko's questions actually address the franchise's concerns about humanity's relation to technology, but in synoptic spurts of dialogue.

The Major speaks with the Puppet Master.

The Puppet Master's claim to be a sentient life form raises some interesting ethical issues, even if such matters are dated to the Millennial generation. The qualifications for being not only "alive" but also intelligent is a question that biological science and religion claim to have solved long ago. If cyborgs are brought into the argument, generally people can agree upon the notion that a person with technological implants is still in possession of a human "ghost". Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, needs to acquire some seed of "humanity", such as the ability to overcome programming limitations and develop volition, in order for people to consider them as being even remotely alive. This issue is at the heart of many science fiction stories, and will likely remain in the fictional realm for some time because of the lack of actual hyper-advanced AI. Ghost in the Shell 2.0 manages to avoid seeming too dated precisely because many people still see AI sentience as either possible, or at least a narrative treasure trove to be mined until there is nothing to write.

The animation for the film is impressive. To be clear, there was nothing particularly wrong with the animation of the first film. The animation in 2.0 however is very clean and sleek, similar to the work done on Dragon Ball Z: Kai. Points of contention for fans of the original Ghost in the Shell film revolve around the color palette, which was originally composed of many cool greens and blues but was traded for warm yellow and orange. The debate is not worth anyone's time and is largely a matter of preference or indifference. Another large change is the inclusion of 3D-CGI. This would also be of little consequence if not for the occasions it is applied to Major Motoko Kusanagi's body. Vehicles are often rendered in CGI in contemporary animation. People are another story entirely. For a character to arbitrarily be rendered in CGI at times is distracting.

Batou of Public Security Section 9.

The music is the same for both versions of the film, and this was a brilliant decision. The film often features the haunting chants of Japanese folk singers, accompanied by a chime, large drum and deep, atmospheric string instruments. The music often plays as the film shows scenes without dialogue, instead entertaining audiences with panoramic views and visual spectacle. Whether or not the music is meant to evoke an overwhelming sense of dread, solemnity, anxiety or awe depends on an individual's personal attitude regarding the future of man and machine; one may experience all of the aforementioned feelings at the same time.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is both a product of its time and a prophetic view of a feasible future. One thing the film does successfully is simplify the ideas within the original manga, which become incredibly abstract and theoretical towards the end of the story. The philosophical and ethical issues raised in the series are not universally appealing or even interesting to a majority of people, so the simplification of highly intellectual matters should be appreciated. This film, along with works like Akira, helped anime capture the attention of American audiences during the 1990's, when Japanese culture seemed to explode onto the global scene.

 * Ghost in the Shell 2.0 was produced by Production I.G. It is available for viewing on Netflix instant stream.

- Elijah Lee