Warning… this is going to be a consideration of the live action Ghost in the Shell movie in light of the anime franchise (no manga references here).

For those who don’t know… the Ghost in the Shell live action movie was released in 2017 and stars Scarlett Johansson. It’s available in 4K, Blu-ray and DVD formats and was greeted with some skepticism and controversy by the anime community.

Casting a white actress to play the lead caused a stir. After the plot was revealed, this was expounded upon due to the main character’s racial history, but for me that sort of thing never mattered. I have always been more concerned with faithfulness to the original anime franchise.

Before I get into it I should preface this with my historical relationship to Ghost in the Shell. I first saw the original anime in a movie theater, on it’s initial US release in 1995. After that I bought it on DVD, and have re-bought it several times as newer versions with better audio or remastering have become available (Blu-ray).

I have also purchased and watched both season 1 (DVD) and season 2 (DVD) of the TV series Stand Alone Complex as well as the movies derived from them: Laughing Man, Individual Eleven and Solid State Society. Ditto for the movie sequel Innocence as well as the OVA prequels Arise (1-2 and 3-4). So that’s what I have in mind when I think about the Live Action version of Ghost in the Shell.

I’d like to start off by saying that I did have a preconceived notion of what I’d get, not from the trailers or reviews, but just from knowing Hollywood and the way previous anime adaptations have gone (I’ll try to do something soon for Kite as that truly gets overlooked). That’s not to say that I expected the movie to be bad… but I didn’t expect it to be faithful to the anime (in story or tone or themes). I just expected a Hollywood action movie that happened to have familiar characters running around doing Hollywood action-y things.

Before I get into my criticism, let me say that if you know nothing about Ghost in the Shell, the movie is exactly what you’d expect, Hollywood action sci-fi. In this regard it’s fine, and I can recommend it… but only if you do NOT know anything about Ghost in the Shell. If you’re a GitS fan, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed… to see why, read on.

The Critique

Unfortunately for GitS fans, we don’t get familiar characters in a new story, nor do we get a pale imitation (retread) of the original. Either of these would be bad, but… somehow what we got is actually much worse. This movie steals the characters names and puts them on different characters entirely, while lifting scenes from the original movie almost verbatim and then twisting them into different contexts to serve a different story entirely. It’s an uncanny bastardization of names and places and scenes glued onto different characters and scenarios that leaves you wondering if the makers ever spent a day watching any of the anime… maybe they wrote the movie from the fan wiki?

Let me use the seminal Star Wars to demonstrate… imagine a new Star Wars movie in which Han is a shy techie, Luke is a mafia enforcer and Leia is an evil sorceress… then imagine these characters are re-enacting the trash compactor scene, but the reason they’re there is not to rescue the princess, but because they were caught stealing R2 and 3PO. Seriously… it’s like that.

First: Characters

The Major – Live Action: Major is the character’s name (because she has no other to serve the plot). She’s a victim who can’t beat the bad guy and can’t get her own shit together enough to even manage her team… oh, wait, it’s not her team, it’s someone elses’ and she’s just a tool… sorry, I forgot.

The Major – Anime: The major has a name, it’s Motoko Kusanagi. She’s never a victim and is often several steps ahead of the rest of her team… yes, I said HER team because she hand picked each and every one of them, and they are the best of the best.

Aramaki – Live Action: Aramaki actually executes someone… ‘nuf said?

Aramaki – Anime: The head of Section 9 is a daft political operator who skillfully manages the socio-political environment to shield his team and facilitate their operations. He doesn’t get his hands dirty… that’s what the team is for!

The Team – Live Action: Aside from Batou, they may as well be cardboard cutouts… I understand it’s a movie and there’s only so much time, but they are poorly represented.

The Team – Anime: Although the same short length in the original movie, each member of the team at least appears to have a unique role, and though we get no back story and little development, there’s a sense that each is integral to the overall success of the group.

Next: Setting

Again, in service to a specific plot device, the entire world of GitS has been changed into something barely recognizable… here’s a description of each.

Live Action: Humanity’s future is indeed bright when people can be augmented with synthetic organs to save or extend their lives, and have cybernetic implants that allow them to remotely operate a car, or surf the web without even a smart phone.

Anime: Humanity’s future is in question. Human augmentation with cybernetics has progressed to such an extreme that it’s difficult to say where humanity stops and a machine starts. A number of people are nothing more than brains operating robot bodies, and artificial intelligence is making it hard to tell the difference. Does 3 pounds of gray matter… make you human?

I could say a lot more about this, but watch them both to draw your own conclusion.

Finally: Plot

The live action plot touches on some classic GitS themes and seems to ask some common GitS philosophical questions, but the character pollution and setting shortcomings make it painful to watch as a fan. The setting created for the movie would be appropriate for a prequel set 50 years in the GitS past, perhaps… when cybernetic enhancement is just beginning to be explored by humanity. Of course you’d need a host of different characters to pull that off.

In classic GitS the plot revolves around solving crimes. That is what Section 9 is, after all… a counter terrorism investigative unit. Crimes against Section 9 members are the result of their investigations (they’re getting too close to a powerful corrupt government official or corporation, for example). They aren’t personal. Making the Major the crime, removing her from the team (as a tool), stealing a host of GitS plots and mashing them together and sticking the Major in the middle of it feels lazy. It doesn’t feel like GitS, but a parody or imitation not intended as a sincere form of flattery.

Conclusion

If you do NOT know Ghost in the Shell from manga or anime… you should give this a go. It’s a perfectly fine Hollywood action / sci-fi movie. A bit slow for the run and gun crowd, but most people are going to enjoy it and it’s little twists and turns. That being said, if you haven’t seen the original anime and you have any interest in doing so, PLEASE watch it first… I guarantee you if you watch it second, it’s impact will be diminished.

If you’re a fan of the Anime (any aspect of it) you’re likely to not only be disappointed, but actually offended. The worst part is not the defective setting or the bastardized characters (although they are painful)… it’s the recreation of famous scenes from the original in a way that somehow threatens the original masterpiece.

I can’t quite explain it other than to say this… watch the major waking up scene in the anime first. Consider the silent, bleak, high-contrast scene of just a few seconds and what you learn about the major from it. Now watch the recreation in the live action movie. It says nothing and serves no purpose other than for the film makers to say “look what we did there… did you catch it? We totally stole that, aren’t you happy now?” No… No I’m not happy about it, because you just showed me an alternative version of a masterpiece and it’s defective in every way. And the consequence is this… anyone who sees the defective live action version first will have the impact of the original superior version lessened by that familiarity.

In other words (and this is specifically directed at the recreation of all of those famous scenes)… if you couldn’t do it right… you shouldn’t have done it at all. Find something else to do. Find something your own to do. Don’t steal a genius’ works and pass them off as your own even if you think it’s an homage… because it’s not when you can’t do the original the justice it deserves!

Finally, watch the original… it’s truly a masterpiece worthy of all of the accolades it’s received over the many years it’s been with us. At $10 for the DVD/Blu-Ray it’s a terrific bargain. That being said, it’s not an action movie and it’s sensibilities may be a bit difficult for today’s audience. Also, many of it’s ideas and themes which were groundbreaking back in the day may also be a bit tired by today’s standards. Still… it’s excellent and should not be missed.

After watching it… then you can go on and watch the live action version. It’s really a different movie and it’s not bad if you’re not a huge fan of the original (which you may be after one sitting, but probably not). If the anime doesn’t make you gush with excitement and force you to run out and tell everyone you know how amazing it is… you’ll probably be able to enjoy the live action version for what it is… a completely different movie “inspired” by the brilliance of the original, and if you look at it like that, I guess there’s nothing wrong with trying… it’s just not the same.