Ghost in the Shell (2017) (Special Third Year Anniversary Review)

In a time when the line between man and machine has begun to blur, terrorism has a gone digital and Section 9, led by The Major, is the last line of defense against it.  When several high ranking members of the Hanka Corporation are targeted for assassination, the case hits close to the Major as they were the ones who saved her life and gave her a new body following a devastating accident.  Not all is as it seems and someone is reaching out to The Major, tempting her with the truth about her past.  The Major was reborn to uphold the law but will she take it into her own hands to find out where she comes from?

I could not begin to tell you how excited I was to drive to the movies this time.  Ever since the first trailer dropped late last year, Ghost in the Shell had become my most anticipated movie of 2017.  It looked like Ghost in the Shell, it felt like Ghost in the Shell and it looked like I was finally going to get a good live action Anime adaptation.  Best yet, it would be of one of my all time favorite Anime franchises.  Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe I missed a lot of the signs in the second trailer.  But by the time I hit the halfway point of the movie…I knew something bad was happening, or at least it wasn't going to be what I wanted it to be.

Let’s start with the center of the film: Scarlett Johansson as The Major.  I get that every time we see The Major, she’s supposed to be different.  In the movies she was angsty and philosophical; in Stand Alone Complex she was the tough as nails leader; and in Arise, she was an up and coming newbie with a lot to prove and a lot of drive.  In this version, we see a more robotic Major than ever before.  She’s good at her job but there’s not a lot of personality to her.  Most of the dialogue delivery is dry and unenergetic.  It may work for this version but I was not impressed.  It felt like ScarJo was going for more Terminator than any of the usual quirks The Major is best known for.  She has maybe one moment of levity and that’s about it.  It doesn’t help that her backstory, the big mystery of the film, isn’t that original, but I’ll get to that more in a moment.  On the surface, this is a role ScarJo could play in her sleep, especially the physical demands.  Beneath, there’s something going on but I just don’t think she emulates it well.  In the end, it’s more on the acting than the white washing controversy that I think she may not have been the best choice for the role.  Maybe that’s a bit too harsh but still, this isn’t my favorite take on The Major, mine is still the Motoko from Arise.

Seeing as how The Major is the rock of the movie, her dull portrayal feeds into everyone else.  And by everyone else, I mostly mean Batou.  In every iteration prior, Batou is more the lighthearted but bad ass joker who balances the much more serious Major.  Here, he’s just as dull as she is.  His actor tries to sound more bad ass and fails.  This just wasn’t my Batou.  Nevermind the rest of Section 9 gets next to no screentime, individually or as a unit.  Togusa should be involved a lot cause of his more human qualities but if The Major isn’t around, it doesn’t matter much.  Interesting enough, Paz is made into a girl in this movie with a different name and she barely gets more screentime than everyone else.  Ishikawa and Saito get one line each and Borma…well he doesn’t do a thing but that’s par for the course for him.  The only stand out is “Beat” Takeshi Kitano as Aramaki.  I was always wondering how they were going to portray him as I had never heard him speak English before.  In a nice touch, we highlight the multicultural aspect of the Section 9 team by having Aramaki speak only Japanese throughout the film.  Everyone can understand him and vice versa and he never changes at any point.  It felt respectful and Kitano was probably my favorite casting choice of the film.  He can be my bad ass boss anyday.

There are a huge amount of callbacks and nods to the Ghost in the Shell franchise littered throughout the movie.  From the not too bad recreation of the “Making of the Cyborg” scene from the original movie to Motoko shooting up Geisha robots from Stand Alone Complex, if you know the franchise well enough, you’re going to see a lot of familiar stuff.  And for the most part, it’s nice.  Unlike Dragon Ball Evolution, which seemed to want to ignore the source material, the filmmakers at least want to let you know they did watch most of the Ghost in the Shell saga before going into the movie.  However, where the film ultimately fails is that the story these callbacks float around is nothing more than a generic 80’s scifi flick. You have false memories, a corrupt company, a scientist holding back more than she knows and a main character being hunted down to protect company secrets.  It’s Total Recall and Robocop merged into one and wrapped in Ghost in the Shell gift paper.  The moment I saw the scientist who “saves” The Major and her corporate boss, I knew I wasn’t going to like them and that they had generic roles to fill.  The movie doesn’t do anything to dissuade me and in the end, it left me in a bad spot.  I’m not sure what to say about Kuze in all of this.  His design is, well interesting but his voice work (sounding like Stephen Hawkings broken or malfunctioning voice box) is pretty distracting and he never adds more to the film to give it more meaning.

I will say that the visuals really were the best part of the movie.  Blade Runner this is not and I’m glad it stand out in that way.  Newport City feels almost Tron like (part of that is thanks to the soundtrack as well).  This does look like Ghost in the Shell to me, right down to the Oshii style lingering on buildings while the haunting music plays.  The uniforms are very Section 9.  The Tank The Major battles at the end is taken right from the original Oshii film and looks incredible.  The deep dive The Major takes into the Geisha she breaks is pretty freaking cool.  And for all the grief I give Batou’s actor and portrayal, his eyes still look awesome.  Oh and yes, Batou does have a Basset Hound named Gabriel.  I want to harp on this film but can give credit where credit is due.  Probably my favorite scene in the movie is The Major’s showdown with a crook in the canal, taken nearly frame for frame from the original Oshii film.  This moment alone is proof that, for all the crap I give the movie, this adaptation is a far cry from Dragon Ball Evolution.  They even managed to throw in a personally tailored version of the old Oshii film theme into the mix.  I’ll admit, I never thought I’d hear it in a US version of Ghost in the Shell.  Props for that.

As I finish this review, I realize I may be a bit overly critical and in a way, that is my fault.  My expectations for Ghost in the Shell were borderline Star Wars/Avengers levels.  So yes, it sucks I didn’t get everything I wanted, especially out of Motoko and Batou.  But what I did get was a film that decided to play things safe with a generic story.  It also showed me that there are filmmakers out there who have seen Ghost in the Shell and acknowledge through visual brilliance that they have.  When I saw references to the franchise, I did smile, everytime.  I left the theater letdown overall.  Right now though, I’m grinning a big.  It’s not the best live action anime adaptation of all time…but it’s not the worst and trust me, there’s a lot worse.  But it’s a decent step in the right direction.  If the story were better I would be more inclined to be glowing about it. 

Whether you wish to see it or not…let your ghost decide for you.

6/10

Pacific Rim-Special Review

In the near future, a portal in the fabric of reality within the Pacific unleashes a horde of powerful monsters, known as Kaiju, on the Earth.  Humanity was once able to fight back with monsters of their own: Giant Robots known as Jaegers.  But the Kaiju have grown stronger and the Jaegers are beginning to fall.  Down to their last few units, humanity rallies its troops in Hong Kong for one final assault to end the war once and for all.  Washed up veteran Ralleigh Beckett is recruited to join the battle in a Jaeger that he once piloted with his brother.  Now teamed with an eager, beautiful rookie named Mako, Ralleigh and his unit, the Gypsy Danger, may be the last trump card humanity has to play against the Kaiju.  Failure to close the portal in time could result in a full on onslaught of more powerful Kaiju and, of course, the end of the world.

What can I say but…WOW!!!

It's easy to go into the film like I did expecting live action Anime because the summary of the film above is a combination of many of the typical plots that power the mecha and sci fi genres of Anime.  And boy do they do it right.  Not only are the Kaiju and the Jagers amazing to see in action but the human cast is also pretty impressive: Pentecost, the figurehead with a shady past; Beckett, a former Jager pilot with a tragic piloting history; Mako, an untested rookie who wants to avenge a wrong from her past, all of the character types are there and their actors delve into them very well, bringing out some great performances just as impressive as the visuals.  A special shout out goes to Idris Elba, who sells his commanding role so well, you know the second this guy is on screen, he's the one you DO NOT want to F with.  In many ways he reminds me a lot of Captain Kunigi from Rahxephon, a brilliant commander who appears to be cold in order to get the job done and lead his people but there may be a bit more to him than it seems, maybe he can feel.  Rinko Kikuchi was just as impressive as Mako, an Anime girl come to life (even with a bit of colored hair).  She's cute, feisty, a helluva fighter and ever willing to help.  I do wish a little more was done with her.

Actually, that leads me to my only real gripe with the film.  The first three quarters feel like your typical first three episode setup for a giant robot anime, establishing world, characters, enemies, mecha, relationships and terminology etc.  But when we get to the films last act, there is the feeling that you are jumping 23-48 episodes ahead (most giant robot anime typically range from 26-51 episodes long, i.e Evangelion and Rahxephon clock in at 26eps while most Gundam shows end around Ep51).  The ending feels a bit rushed and if this film had been split into two, then a lot of time could've been given to fleshing out these amazing characters a little more.  But by the time for the final battle, the lost opportunity for such storytelling is something you're just going to have to roll with.  Again, it's a nit pick, I liked the story and the character, and the first 3/4ths did the best work with them.

But if you really don't care about the story and are just there for the smack down, then you will certainly not be disappointed.  This is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen in order to get the full effect of the scale of these fights.  The battles feel big not just in opponent size but in punches, shots, hell the scene from the trailers where Beckett and Mako drag a boat along the streets of Hong Kong as their choice of weapon feels large and exciting.  If you were ever a five year old who watched Voltron or Godzilla or Power Rangers and wished they would go at it, then you will be grinning at least once during some of these fights.  Also amazing is the design of the Jagers themselves.  Much like mecha Anime, all of the Jagers present are special and unique in their own way.  Their weapons, fighting styles, all customized and it's cool to see each ones special talents in action at least once in their fights.

It's hard to believe that Hollywood managed to get something many only thought the Japanese could do the best.  Pacific Rim packs more punch, thrills and human emotion into its runtime than the whole of Michael Bay’s Transformer films put together.  The world should take note.  If Pacific Rim could get all of this right and not be based on any Anime…there’s hope that more live action Anime like projects such as this one could see more success.  It may not appeal to a general audience, but for Anime fans and fans of Godzilla and his group of Giant Monster friends, this was a dream come true.  We have the template, let’s make it even better next time.

8/10

 

Gundam Month Mark II Announcement



Break out the cake, it's a celebration bitches!!!

 

It’s been three years since I started this blog (well three years since I started writing Anime reviews, you can find the dates on older entries from 2015 so I say three).  As a writer, I’ve grown more confident sharing my thoughts on Anime and learned a bit more about my tastes comparing now to what I was like twenty years ago getting into the genre.  I could spend time reflecting on this newfound growth, but I wont for now.  Instead, I’m writing to let you guys know that to kick off Year 4 of the Gundam Anime Corner, I’m going to start it off both big and right.  And I’m gonna start by dedicating it to this blogs namesake, Kidou Senshi Gundam.

I am pleased to announce…GUNDAM MONTH MARK II.  This is my highly anticipated follow up to an event I did my first year writing where I did a triple feature marathon of three back to back Gundam movies: Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz; Gundam: Char’s Counterattack; and Gundam F91.  While I have done tons of Gundam since then, I haven’t made an event out of them (except maybe when I did a summer long marathon of Gundam 00).  Anyway, Gundam Month Mark II will include reviews of two OVAS: Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.  I’ll also be dedicated four weeks of Top 5 Wednesday’s to this month, hence my decision to announce it as an event.  The reviews will be coming a bit frequently in some cases.  Expect all of Gundam 0080 to be rolled out in one week.  Gundam 0083 starts afterwards on normal schedule but the last two parts will be posted in the last week of April (One Monday and One Friday).  This frees up a little more space for some titles to follow for the start of summer.

As you may have noticed, Gundam is a huge part of my Anime viewing experience and I never shy away from the chance to give it it’s proper due, especially reminding newer fans that there’s more to it (good or bad) beyond Iron Blooded Orphans or Wing.  So here’s one of those chances.  The sequel I have been waiting to do for three years.  Gundam Month Mark II begins April 3 with the start of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.

 

It uh...also doesn't hurt that im doing this in April when Gundam turns 38...so there.  Special thanks to the folks at Gunpla101 that I met at Katsucon this past February.  Chatting with you guys made me want to do this.  Be sure to check out their Facebook and main pages linked bellow

https://www.gunpla101.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gunpla101/

T5W#85-Top 5 Thoughts on the Death Note Teaser

It feels kind of poetic that with about a couple days to go before Ghost in the Shell hits theaters (I promise after this week ill shut up about it) we’ll get another Live Action Anime adaptation coming a few months later.  Yes, Death Note American version is happening and will debut as a Netflix exclusive film on August 25, 2017.  The one minute trailer didn’t show a tremendous amount but just enough to get the internet rilled up.  Me, my feelings are mixed but I still intend to watch and review for the blog.  For now, here are my Top 5 Thoughts on the Death Note Teaser for todays Top 5 Wednesday.

 

#5-Is a Movie a Good Idea?

One thing that struck me while watching was, why make this a single movie?  Will it be a single movie?  The 2006 Japanese version was split into two films (and even got a sequel late last year which I really want to see).  Trying to cram 12 volumes of Manga or 37 episodes of Anime into a 2-2.5hr feature is a risky move.  If anything, the premise of Death Note would make for a solid TV series that would fit right into the line up on a Teen centered network like the CW.  CW has found success with supernatural themed shows…like Supernatural.  And it’s well known for it’s brooding teenage shows (Dark Archie, er I mean Riverdale kind of matches the vibe of the Death Note Trailer).  Speculating all of this, it is always likely that this is just the first of a planned set of films and further chapters will be announced based on the success of this one movie.  Wait and see approach is in effect.

 

#4-Death by Ferris Wheel?

While ive never read the manga in full (just the first 4 volumes), I have seen the Anime at least twice all the way through (granted that was years ago).  I cannot recall a time when Light and some poor guy were clinging for dear life on a collapsing Ferris Wheel.  This is a pretty big sequence to tack onto a show that seems a bit more grounded in it’s epicness without having to go all out.  Also, what exactly is happening here?  Did Light set some events in motion that got out of hand with his Death Note?  Was he testing it?  Who is he holding onto, could it be L?  Just how the heck did this sequence get so out of hand?  Whatever the case, it’s a pretty interesting way to get peoples attention and help the movie stand out on it’s own, trying something new.

 

#3-Misa the Cheerleader

Misa Amane is now Mia Sutton in the new movie, Americanizing the names a bit but make sense of a US adaptation.  We only get a couple of quick glimpses but enough for a first impression.  Mia doesn’t give off the typical ditzy vibe of Misa.  She seems a bit more rebellious (she smokes during cheerleading practice) and a key candidate to form a cult around Kira.  Being what could be Cheer Captain shows she’ll still have the popular girl aspect of her original character intact.  She’s also pretty easy on the eyes (the actress is also the daughter of Andie MacDowell…wow that’s awesome), which, love or hate her, Misa always was.  This will be a character to keep an eye on while watching.

 

#2-Light Turner & Mr. Robot L

Ah the big two.  As soon as Light was first spotted, reactions went all over the place.  Are they white washing again?  For me, I was wondering if I was looking at Light or seeing some kid trying to cosplay Quicksilver from Avengers: Age of Ultron with that bleached hair.  Again, the argument of this being a CW series rather than a movie comes up cause he looks like the kind of kid youd see in a CW show.  It’s too early to judge him based on his acting cause of a few quick lines.  As for Mr Robot, sorry L.  The shot of the detective walking down a red lit hallway with a hood and mask gives off a Mr. Robot vibe.  Still, not really much to say as of yet.  He’s being portrayed by Keith Stanfeild, who played Snoop Dogg in Straight Outta Compton.  With all the complaints of white washing, I’m really glad this casting hasn’t gotten scrutinized yet as making L an black detective (apparently doing his own in the field investigating, a far cry from his manga counterpart who usually does everything behind closed doors) could offset whatever levels of hate the trailer may have gotten and make the movie appeal to a larger audience.  Will this L still be as quirky as the one we all know and love?  Hopefully we see more of him in the next trailer so I can make a better guess.

 

#1-Ryuk is Terrifying as F***

One shot is blink and you’ll miss, the other is blurred out.  But those eyes…those terrifyingly disturbing eyes.  Both the Anime and Movie versions of Ryuk kind of made him look a bit goofy, which made sense as he did provide a lot of dark comic relief.  Here though, he totally gives off the vibe of a true Death God, a sinister force of nature that cant really be stopped.  On top of that, he’s also voiced by bad guy expert extrodinaire Willem Dafoe (Spider Man, The Boondock Saints).  No matter your overall thoughts on the casting, that is a perfect choice.

47 Ronin-Special Review

(Hey everyone.  In anticipation of Ghost in the Shell coming out this Friday, I’m doing 2 special reviews this week, one being posted today, the other on Thursday.  Basically, I wanted to show two examples of films that aren’t exactly Live Action Anime per say, mostly because neither are based off of a particular show or Manga, but rather they have enough of an Anime feel to them they might as well be.  Like I said, two films, two examples.  One is a movie that sucks and does everything wrong and one is a movie that isn’t perfect but does a much better job.  I’ll save the good one for Thursday.  Today, however, I present a review I wrote a while back of the travesty that is…47 Ronin.)

In ancient Japan, the evil Lord Kira uses his mysterious witch ally to disgrace his rival, Lord Asano.  The old man if forced to take his life in Seppuku (Japanese ritual suicide) and his men are forbidden from seeking revenge, even if they can prove Kira was behind this catastrophe.  One year later, Asano’s right hand, Oishii, prepares for one last mission of vengeance.  Gathering his comrades together, Oishii and a small band of warriors brave impossible odds and vicious magic to take back their homeland and slay their masters killer.  However, to combat the power of demons, Oishii must call upon an outcast/half breed named Kai, who possesses supernatural skills that may be the key to true victory.

Oh 47 Ronin.  From right off the bat, the trailers looked less than promising.  Wacky effects, a Christmas release date, Keanu amongst a group of hardened samurai, none of it seemed to click with me.  Yet I am a huge fan of Japanese Anime and an admirerer of Japanese culture.  Ergo, I knew at some point I would check this film out.  But wouldn’t you know it.  As if I simply blinked, 47 Ronin dropped out of most theaters around my way in a matter of what felt like hours instead of days.  Probs for the best since I’m definitely glad I didn’t spend $12 or more for maybe less than five minutes of decency and the rest a giant load of…bummer. 

From what little I have learned, the story of the 47 Ronin is highly revered in Japan, their story celebrated annually.  It is a tale of revenge, honor and courage that resounds through the ages and is worthy of a big screen adaptation.  Turns out it has been brought to the cinemas a few times but this is the first time it has gone for broke on over the top storytelling.  And that there is the films biggest flaw: the story was big and special enough without visual effects, magic witches, dragons and solider and creepy bird faced me…there’s also Keanu Reeves but it’s easy to ignore him since the rest of the film kind of does.

Yes, 47 Ronin is just about as bad as everyone makes it out to be.  The story drags, the action for the most part is uninspiring, and it feels like it is trying to be nothing more than an over blown embellishment of a tale seeped in digital pixels.  Which is a shame because, as I said earlier, the story is big enough.  If the film had stuck to a simplistic story of revenge that felt worthy of retelling and just stuck to swords and honor, it could have worked.  Hell if they wanted to add mystical elements, an Anime would have suited the story just fine.  13-26 episodes (26 would probably have been better like Samurai 7) we could have gotten to know and care about these revenge and duty driven Samurai and felt that their final victory was worth the price they pay in the end.  But no, this is Hollywood, not Japan.  And if it’s one thing anyone can attest to, it’s that Hollywood has a tendency to take proper Japanese storytelling and ruin it for everyone (Dragon Ball: Evolution anyone?)

There is, believe it or not, one decent thing about 47 Ronin and that lies in the star of the story.  NO, not Keanu, he may get top billing but he’s so wasted and irrelevant it’s a wonder why he’s even here to begin with.  I’m talking about Hiroyuki Sananda as Oishii.  Sananda has played other leadership and samurai roles in the past (he was Ken Watanabe’s second in command in The Last Samurai and the Captain of Icarus 2 in Sunshine) and he brings to the screen a sense of having done this before over a long period of time.  Like Ken Watanabe, he is the embodiment of the samurai spirit passed down through the ages.  And his two scene stealing fights in the film, one against Keanu’s Kai and his final showdown with Kira, show he is super bad ass with a sword and will kick your ass in real life lol (need further proof of this, he was also one of the main villains in The Wolverine, where he had an amazing one on one duel with Hugh Jackman with samurai swords vs claws that is one of the best comic book film fights I have ever seen).  If the film had been just about Oishii and a couple of extra dudes then I would have enjoyed the film more despite poor effects and storytelling.

Shout outs should also go to Rinko Kikuchi (Mako from Pacific Rim) who looks like she’s having fun playing a slightly seductive witch even though she has no clear direction or motivation…if there was it was poorly explained and I’ve had my fill of powerful witches with God like powers and an overabundance of “I’m a bad ass, let me tell you over and over again”.

47 Ronin could have been s true spectacle, a nice update of a time honored tale.  But somewhere down the line, the story was sliced, diced and tossed into a soup of CGI and poor screenplays and this is what we ended up with.  I know I was warned over and over and over and over again not to give it a shot but I did and hey I got to write my own review, plus see Hiroyuki Sananda kick some serious ass with a samurai sword, so I will not say it was time completely wasted.  If anything, seeing this film should prompt someone to seek out an older film version and enjoy its better take on the tale.  The heroic and inspiring story of the 47 Ronin may be forever remembered by history…however it’s best that this less than tolerable take on their legacy be forgotten…lest the 47 Ronin rise from their graves to seek revenge…by finding every single copy of this film and erasing it from existence

 3/10

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Section 9 agents Batou and Togusa are assigned to investigate a series of grisly murders, all involving a new model Android.  Batou has not been the same since Major Motoko Kusinagi vanished following The Puppet Master case.  As he begins to exhibit behavior similar to The Major before she vanished, Batou dives head first into the case that leads him and Togusa from the slums of the underworld to the outer frontier of the territory.  All the while, the two are being watched by forces who will stop at nothing to hinder their investigation.  What will Batou find at the end of this long and twisted road? 

I first saw Ghost in the Shell 2 back in 2004.  It was one of those rare occasions where the film debuted over that summer and made its way to the states in the fall, so a pretty quick turn around.  I had only just seen the first film really recently so I was hyped to see it.  And after I saw it, I dubbed it the Best Film of 2004.  Now, more then 10 years later, some thoughts and opinions may have changed, but I still think Innocence is an amazing movie and one of my all time favorite Anime films.

Most of that statement I back up with three areas: the animation, the music and the action.  The film is nothing if not a gorgeous piece of work, animation at its finest that still holds up even today.  I’m shocked the film never netted an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature because of the quality alone.  Theres a lot of CG in the film but I think it blends really well, much better than digi paint/3D collaborations like Full Metal Panic or X.  There isn’t a single frame of this movie that isn’t spellbinding and it’s easy to get lost in all of the visuals, especially when they start getting a bit preachy in several spots.  Combine that with Kenji Kawaii’s score and you’ve got a recipe for greatness.  Oshii’s long time friend and musical collaborator returns with tracks that feel like updates of ones from the first film, especially the opening.  Meanwhile, there’s some nice Jazz and Piano tracks from Kimiko Itoh thrown in that provide a surprisingly relaxing feel, particularly with River of Crystals.  Of course, the end theme, Follow Me, is equally haunting and saddening given the themes and images present in the story.  The film boasts more than twice the amount of action featured in the first film and, like everything else, it feels bigger and better.  Batou mowing down a Yakuza safehouse almost singlehandedly before storming a ship filled with murderous robots feels a lot like the action I expected to see in the first film, aka the film that heavily inspired The Matrix.

The focus on Batou is both the films greatest strength and also a bit of a flaw.  On the one hand, the happy go lucky Batou we know from the series and sort of in the first film gets a somber make over in this film.  His joke side does pop out every once in a while but for the most part, he is running through the same motions Motoko did in the first film, only he’s not questioning his humanity, he’s poorly masking how much he misses the woman he cares for so much.  The analysis of Batou’s new attitude is pretty deep, not surprising as most of Oshii’s Anime tend to be pretty damn deep.  Hearing him randomly throw out quotes from every existentialist on the planet is a bit much.  Actually Batou and Togusa seem to do that a lot.  It’s as if Oshii wanted the film to sound more philosophical about life and less about tech as in the first one, so he dug into a philosophy professors brain and made a greatest hits list from Milton to the Bible.  The film wants to sound incredibly profound and important but it definitely tries a bit too hard at times.  It's easy to get lost in the animation but that’s ok. It’s equally easy to get lost in the philosophical discussions and that can be hit or miss.  If you want a crash course in Psychology 101, you’ll be fine.  Otherwise, you might be bored to sleep by it all.  I personally don’t mind it, but I also find Innocence a bit more relaxing than it was likely intended to be. 

Going back to the visuals again, while I think the film is pretty much flawless in it’s design, there are a couple of sequences that I think might go on a liiiiitle too long.  The finger points mostly at the Dollhouse scene, where Batou and Togusa experience three separate incidents of déjà vu over the span of 15-20 minutes (it may be a lot less but it feels long).  It’s cool to go through each and find all of the easter egg differences, including a big call back to the first film.  But the segments themselves could have been a bit shorter after the first run through.  Other than that, the pace of the film can be slow at times but it’s hard to hate on that when the movie looks this good.  The parade in Etorofu, the moment Batou gets hacked in the convenience store, even the opening scene with Batou wandering into a dark alley after the Hadaly Doll, it’s all haunting and animated to a T.  If it’s definitely one area where Innocence surpasses it’s predecessor, it’s the Animation.  Flaws and all, this should be in a museum.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence may not be as flawless as I remembered it being: it can drag, the quotes will go over everyones head and it doesn’t really reinvent the genre like it’s predecessor.  But still, this is a very important Anime film that should be seen regardless of expectation.  It’s definitely a thinking man’s Anime, a deep character study about belonging, the confirmation of a soul in your body despite a cybernetic form, and what do you do with your life after someone important leaves suddenly.  Plus legendary animation, a musical score that tells the story just as well and some solid action scenes (though few and far between).  Innocence is fascinating if nothing else.  If you liked the first film, you owe it to yourself to see it.  Ghost in the Shell never really needed a sequel (a TV series maybe but maybe not a movie sequel) but I’m glad Innocence was the movie we got anyway.  I may not understand it all (even after countless viewings) but it will always stand in my head as one of the greatest Anime films I have ever seen in my life.  Nuff said.

9.5/10

Now, can Hollywood finally get a live action Anime adaptation right?  Think I’ll be more upset if they screw this one up than I was when I saw Dragon Ball.  Check back this Friday for the Third Anniversary Special Review…of Ghost in the Shell.

 

T5W#84-Top 5 Live Action Movies that should be Anime

With the Ghost in the Shell Movie only a week away, after this Friday, I was given a suggestion from a friend for this weeks Top 5.  It was a reverse of recent events: If Anime can be made into live action films then why not the reverse?  This was tricky.  I think film might somewhat surpass Anime as one of my favorite pastimes.  I love going to the movies and will usually see more other than a professional film reviewer will in a year.  So choosing 5 of the hundreds (knowing me if not thousands) of movies ive seen for this list was pretty damn tough.  And I had to choose ones I thought id want to see in Anime form….have I mentioned this wasn’t easy?  Well luckily I narrowed it down and for todays T5W I offer you dear readers, My Top 5 Live Action Movies that should be Anime.

 

#5-Dune (1984)

The 1984 David Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert legendary scifi novel might not get everything…or really anything right about the source material.  It still remains a close, personal favorite film of mine for it’s atmosphere, music, cast and visuals I still associate with Dune to this day.  The world of Dune is huge, well beyond the movie.  And if the Monogatari series can crank out 50 million Anime based on the light novels, why cant Dune?  This series should have been brought to life properly long ago (who knows why SciFi Channel ditched it after two successful miniseries).  Why not in Anime form?  You could bring all of those epic battles and visual marvels (Riding freaking Sandworms through the desert) to the big screen or TV screens in a way Live Action media cannot.  Here’s hoping Studio Ufotable (Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works) decides this is worth it cause with them at the helm, Dune would look incredible.

 

#4-Alien (1979)

The Alien series has two really good movies and the rest are…so so.  For this list, im opting to go with the classic horror flick that started it all.  If it’s one thing Anime knows how to be, it’s terrifying.  And yes, thinking of making Alien an Anime does instantly make my mind go to that realm of…well what most immature people think Anime is best known for.  Hentai implications aside, Alien as an Anime could be nightmare fuel for years to come, especially if the main monster itself can be done proper justice.  The claustrophobic feel of the Nostromo’s tight corridors and air ducts, the feel of intensity as the Alien creeps in and picks off the crew one by one until only Ellen Ripley is left with minimal defense against it.  Anime can do scary and, to me, Alien is still as scary as scifi horror gets.

 

#3-Underworld Series (2003-)

If it’s two things Anime knows how to do, it’s vampires and sexy women being badasses.  Enter Underworld, a movie series that has practically been begging to be made into an Anime given how Anime like it already feels.  Vampires, Werewolves, rich lore, feuding clans, internal politics, and a drop dead gorgeous woman trapped in the middle of it all.  Some of the limitations the movies have on how the Vamps and Werewolves look could be dealt with in Anime form, hell could even add some variation how each of the warring monster clans look.  Do I even need to touch on Selene and her leather clad awesomness?  Throw in some Hellsing levels of bullets and blood and you’ve got…well a good Hellsing successor.

 

#2-The Hunger Games (2012)/Battle Royale (2000)

These both share the same spot because, let’s face it, The Hunger Games shares a lot in common with Battle Royale (especially the first movie).  If you’re going to make one into an Anime, you might as well (finally) make the other into one as well.  A savage competition between kids where the final prize is survival?  Yeah feels a lot like a set up for Gundam (hmmmm) or even recent shows like Magical Girl Raising Project.  Nevertheless, this is the kind of story that Anime was made to tell.  And it can be as brutal and heart wrenching and all out mind blowing as it wants to be (without a PG13 rating holding it back).  Battle Royale never shied away from being controversial with its premise and The Hunger Games…well did it’s own thing for a younger audience.  Anime could be a bridge between the two audiences.  If you’re with it, you’re with it.  If not, well you might be missing out.

 

#1-Pacific Rim (2013)

Granted you could go and just watch Voltron, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Rahxephon…all at once.  While Guierllmo Del Toro says otherwise, it’s hard to ignore all of the Anime and Japanese Monster Movie inspiration that went into the modern day masterpiece that wasn’t based on an Anime.  That being said…why hasn’t Pacific Rim gotten an Anime adaptation yet?  How about a prequel, showing us the heyday of Jaegers vs Kaiju that we only got a glimpse of in the movie?  Maybe a more expanded version of the story from the movie (I often think the film is basically Episodes 1-3 of an Anime before it jumps right to Episodes 25-26).  There are so many ways to go about this one and it sucks we still don’t have it yet.  Pacific Rim 2 is due out in theaters in 2018 (I think).  So why not take the opportunity to get in on an Anime tie in then huh?  With Pacific Rim we got the Live Action Anime we all wanted to see…it’s only right the film return the favor for the medium that so inspired it’s creation.

Ghost in the Shell

The year is 2029.  In a city where the line between man and machine has blurred more than ever before, the infamous cyber hacker, The Puppet Master, has come to town.  The task of catching him is assigned to Major Motoko Kusinagi and her elite counter cyber terrorism task force Section 9.  Motoko is a pro, an agent who is as beautiful as she is deadly in battle.  But this latest case will push her moral boundaries and make her question her own existence in this ever changing world.  And what happens when she finally comes face to face with this hacker who has come such a long way just to meet her?  It found a voice, now it needs a body.

When I first saw Ghost in the Shell back in the summer of 2004, the same summer the sequel was coming out in Japan, I’ll admit, I was kind of disappointed.  After hearing that this was a film that had such heavy influence on The Matrix, I expected a more run and gun action thriller.  Instead I got a few cool action scenes while being flooded with discussions about man and machine coexistence in an age when it was tough to tell the two apart anymore.  Looking back on then, I was such a brat.  Then again, it wasn’t until I saw Blade Runner a second time that I fully appretiated it’s messages.  As a result of a second screening with a clearer head, Ghost in the Shell went on to become one of my favorite Anime films of all time and introduced me to one of my all time favorite Anime franchises, up there with Dragon Ball Z and Mobile Suit Gundam.

Seeing as how this is a Mamoru Oshii directed film, it should surprise no one that this is a deep and very talkative flick.  When she isn’t in the field, kicking ass and looking good in the process, Motoko Kusinagi is questioning life, the universe and everything.  It’s like she’s going through a teenage existential crisis (I think Batou even mentions she’s acting like an angst filled teenager at one point).  There not bad questions or resulting discussions.  Like Blade Runner it’s the kind of dialogue that makes for awesome scifi storytelling.  This isn’t an action adventure and if youre going into Ghost in the Shell expecting that, like I did on first run through, you’ll be let down.  But, while some conversations tend to go off the rails a bit, especially in the final confrontation between Motoko and the Puppet Master, you’d  be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t try to be involved in the scenes going on.  Theyre surprisingly poignant and thought provoking.

Of course, if the philosophy course bores you, the animation and music will not.  God did Oshii bring his A-Game to this one.  Even for a film made in the mid 90’s, the animation looks more lifelike than Anime, like a next step in the animation style.  The world around Motoko, Batou and the others feels so cold but also so lifelike with all the hustle and bustle of a town market place or flying by a ginormous metal skyscraper.  One of my favorite moments of the movie has no dialogue or action, but it’s just the team all heading towards the same final battle from different directions.  The haunting strings of Kenji Kawaii’s legendary score lends to a sense of contemplation and anticipation you can feel in every character.  It feels like the infamous scene from Miami Vice featuring “In the Air Tonight”.  It is, in my opinion, one of the single best scenes of Anime I have ever seen.  If I were to make a playlist of scenes I love more than others, this one would be on it, a testament to the perfect pairing of animation and music that is Mamoru Oshii and Kenji Kawaii. 

More than two decades after it’s release, Ghost in the Shell continues to rank up there with Akira and Spirited Away as examples of why Anime rocks.  The gorgeous visuals, thought provoking storyline, complex characters and very adult atmosphere further the argument that Anime isn’t just another animation medium meant for kids.  This film, much like Akira, changed how we look at the scifi storytelling medium, a logical next step and in a form few took seriously for a short while.  For all of it’s deep talks about what it means to be human, Ghost in the Shell still rocks and should be recommended to anyone who is a fan of Blade Runner, Cyberpunk or storytelling in general.  For me, the Ghost in the Shell franchise has always been one of Anime’s strongest anchors…and it all started here with this masterpiece of a film.

9.5/10

The only question now is, did the sequel manage to equal, surpass, or fall flat on it’s face compared to this film?  Well you’ll just have to wait til next week when I review Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.  The countdown to the make or break debut of the live action Ghost in the Shell film continues.  And man does it have a lot to live up to with films like these in existence.

T5W#83-Top 5 Fantasy Actors for Live Action Anime

This coming Friday will commence the two week countdown to the long awaited, heavily anticipated arrival of Ghost in the Shell, Hollywoods latest attempts at making a live action Anime.  I’ll be talking a bit more about that in the coming weeks.  Today I wanted to go back to an old mini game every Anime fan used to play when they were younger.  Everytime you saw an Anime on screen, you’d always wonder which actor could play a specific character on screen.  Well today, I’m playing that game again.  Now, granted these casting may not be the most ideal (especially given the controversy surrounding Scarlett Johannson’s casting as The Major in Ghost in the Shell).  But this is strictly for fun, with only one or two options id actually recommend for the real thing.  So here we go, my Top 5 Actors for Live Action Anime.

 

#5-Rinko Kikuchi as Soi Fon (Bleach)

Starting it off with an actress who so deserves a live action Anime role.  I even once thought of Rinko Kikuchi as a potential choice for Motoko in the Ghost in the Shell film (the little bit of blue and purple in her hair in Pacific Rim helped a lot).  However, in lew of the obvious casting already, I think she would make a great Soi Fon.  Rinko seems the sort of the perfect mix of aggressive and beautiful that molds Soi Fon into the sexy bad ass ninja she is in Bleach.  This actress has a lot of potential in her and I’d like to see her get her due outside of Pacific Rim in an actual anime adapation.  She could just be the secret weapon this movement needs to really get peoples attention.

 

#4-Marie Avgeropoulos as Revy (Black Lagoon)

I just recently started watching The 100 on CW.  Each character has a particular effect on me but it’s Marie Avergopoulos’ (if she’s reading this I apologize in advance if I ever meet her and totally butcher her last name, I am ashamed) as Octavia Blake that made me think of a certain foul mouthed pirate on the high seas.  Seeing Marie evolve from stowaway into a hardened, ready to kill on sight warrior like Octavia makes me think she’d be a solid choice for Revy, the lead character of Black Lagoon.  Just trade her swords for guns and allow her to let loose with as much harsh language as she wants and you’ve got her near perfect. 

 

#3-Matt Damon as Saitama (One Punch Man)

As I brace for the inevitable backlash on this one…I’ll try to defend myself.  Firstly, it was that little snippet from the latest Jason Bourne flick that got me to watch One Punch Man in the first place, you know the part where he literally knocks a guy down in ONE PUNCH.  Factor in Saitama’s laid back, “I don’t give a crap” attitude and how Matt Damon can play a role like that in his sleep…and he doesn’t look half bad bald, as seen in Elysium, and the One Punch Man could become a reality one day.  Oh wait…he kind of has.

 

#2-Jet Li as Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z)

This is the classic.  When you do a wish list like this, you remember how every kid wanted this to be a real thing.  And I still do.  Jet Li’s martial arts prowness pretty much guarantees him a spot in a CORRECTLY DONE Dragon Ball Z movie.  But Vegeta is the role we all want him in.  His ferocity in his action scenes screams Vegeta’s blood rage.  And you can just hear him shouting, “KAKAROTOOOO!!!!” at the top of his lungs and I guarantee the fanboy scream will justify any tickets sold.  Hollywood, besides the next option, if any casting on this list should come true, please make it this one: I’ve been waiting since 5^th grade for this to happen.

 

#1-Benedict Cumberbatch as Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) 

I’ll admit, this guy is kind of my man crush.  I doubt there’s a role Benedict Cumberbatch couldn’t pull off.  We all know him as the sarcastically brilliant Sherlock or the mystically powered Doctor Strange.  But given his height, build, acting quality, and ability to charm the ladies, doesn’t that remind you of anyone else?  Everytime I think of this option, I can see Spike’s hairdo on him, along with the tacky but still stylish suit.  And who says Benedict Cumberbatch couldn’t master Jeet Kun Do?  Whatever, I think it makes more sense than the Keanu Reeves casting that was rumored years ago…even if he can do Kung Fu.  Benedict Cumberbatch in an Anime adaptation (specifically Cowboy Bebop).  Hollywood, please get to it.