User reviews

The film plays like a six, in that the story line is good but maybe not top-notch, but the ending is spectacular, and by spectacular I mean better than your average excellent film out there.

So this is a seven to me, and recommended to all my friends and family.

Ghost in the Shell (2017), a cybernetic ballet of stunning visuals and philosophical musings. Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of Major was captivating, embodying the essence of a cybernetic being grappling with identity. The film editing embraced the high-tech aesthetic, seamlessly blending action sequences with moments of introspection. The movie's strength lies in its visual spectacle, transporting the audience to a dystopian world that feels both futuristic and eerily familiar. While the narrative occasionally stumbled in fully exploring its existential themes, the music added a haunting layer that complemented the film's atmosphere. Cinematography plunged us into a neon-soaked cityscape, capturing the beauty and complexity of a world where humanity and technology intertwine. At 7/10, Ghost in the Shell is a cyberpunk visual feast that sparks contemplation on what it means to be human in an increasingly digital age.

Loved the anime original, watchable MOVIE adaptation. Good action. (Yeah sequel could be done)

If you have watched the original, this will leave you wanting. Watched as it is, dismissing the original, it still seems rushed, but, not as terrible an outing as some have said, in my opinion.

Clearly, the design team are talented and this film is indeed a visual spectacle, but the director clearly doesn't understand why the anime was special. This barely touches on the core themes of the original, it is hollow, beautiful, but hollow.

Maybe I had my hopes too high for this one. Like many other fans of the original material, this adaptation has intrigued me since the first trailers were available online, because it really looked nice visually, but, Is this movie worth to be part of the GitS universe?

• Short answer: Not really. Not even nice try.

• Long answer: The cinematography its truly remarkable, it somehow reproduce the atmosphere of the original anime, the decaying, depressing, dark megalopolis is correctly reproduced here (despite the giant weird advertisements that are spread around, that doesn't really make any sense, and didn't appear in the anime, what are they trying to sell?), the costumes, robots, and the general look and feel of the characters are quite satisfying and solid. The music is not bad at all, includes some of the original score and it work towards creating a dense and dark environment. The acting is standard, not bad at all. The script is.... ohhh boy, let me breath... to use nice words, the script seems to be written addressed to children or to very 'slow' people. All the rich complexity, all the mature and philosophical themes, all the sides of the story that the original material let out to be imagined by the viewer, all that is gone here. Here you can find a bland, generic script, that explain a generic origin story, that never tries to get into the philosophical or ethical implications of human body enhancements or AI. Where the characters are one-sided, good vs bad people. We are use to that over-simplification of a movie plot, since we sadly live in a world conquered by the 'marvel'/'batman' method of making a movie, where the plot should be simple and thin, the characters shouldn't have any grays and the action should be convoluted and confusing, full of minions to destroy for the sake of fill 100 minutes (well at least this adaptation has correct action scenes, that are easy to follow and most of the time are not annoying). To wrap up, a correct movie, that shines in the visual and action sides, but has a forgettable script and characters. It will probably perform good in the box office, and that worries me because what could come next, it will be really sad to see how they reduce Akira, Jin-roh, Evangelion or Cowboy bebbop to a generic action blockbuster without any of the things that made those stories great.

Thank you for this film. It really tries to stay true to its original elements and the visuals don't disappoint. Some take the nitpicking, whitewashing, feminism etc too far, none of which are the intention of this film. The makers of this feature film must have had been fans of the original series so as not to ruin it. If good anime are to have live action movies, then I say this is the bar, the benchmark.

And I would absolutely love a sequel!

Ghost in the Shell is arguably one of the most beloved anime films of all time. Approaching nearly 22 years old, the original film still holds up as, not only a great film, but a thought provoking one too. Fast forward to 2017, we're introduced to the CGI spectacle that many believed was going to be the first great live action adaptation especially when the first trailer was released. Instead of appeasing fans of the original, this film decides to clip its own nuts and wants to be seen on a broader spectrum. Throw in some heavily edited fight sequences, a PG-13 rating and Scarlett Johansson, we get 2017 Ghost in the Shell...and it is downright painful at times.

The film is, more or less, a shot for shot remake at times and then other times it tries to do its own thing. Truthfully, Rupert Sanders' erratic direction and Jamie Moss' lackluster adapted script make this a very hard film for a fan to watch. While it may be easily looked over because of the wonderful use of CGI and cinematography, under the surface the film is superficial and very idiotic at times. Scarlett Johansson as Major is a major miscast (no pun intended). She is wooden and feels like she is sleepwalking through this role. While it is clear that after Lucy and The Avengers, Johansson is wanting to be an action hero icon. She is a tremendous actress in every way but it is hard to buy her as Major.

Overall, this film is yet another remake that misses the mark. Walking out of my screening, I kept hearing the comparisons to the remake of RoboCop from a group of people. I must say, this was an accurate comparison and I couldn't have made a better comparison even if I tried. The film suffers from blatant studio meddling, a poor script, and a very erratic director, much like that remake. These are three things that are too hard to ignore. Hardcore fans of Ghost in the Shell will probably be massively disappointed by this blatant cash grab. The young teenagers might get a kick out of the action sequences and CGI but the adults will be left watching the original for their enjoyment.

Simplified? Yes. Stupified? No! imho a beautifully crafted cyberpunk movie that while it does not reach to the levels of complexity of the original anime, it stand it's ground and deliver a great audiovisual experience with a story that is sophisticated enough to rise above most Hollywood movies today but not that much to alienate more mainstream viewers. This is greatly underrated because it had to stand in the unfair comparison of the anime. I don't believe it is possible to replicate animes so just go and see it for what it is. A great cyberpunk Hollywood production. It is rare for Hollywood to treat it's original material with respect while trying to simplify it to reach a bigger audience.

Just finished watching this movie on DVD. I got it from the local library today along with three others. I watched it first as I thought it would be rubbish; it wasn't. Not sure why all the bad reviews. I thought it was a good story and was well done. I knew nothing about the subject before I watched the movie so it was all new to me. I liked the way the main character developed (a bit like Robocop) and thought the supporting cast good. Do not get me wrong: the film is not great, but I was entertained and did not have to fast forward at all (always a bad sign) and I rewound quite a few bits to watch again (always a good sign). It's fantasy of course and definitely silly in parts. The CGI is poor in parts too. However, overall I liked it and would definitely watch it again.

Good science-fiction in an eclectic future where technological enhancement is now part of the human body. The cast does a good job and the effects are impressIve. Great Atmos soundtrack that really shines all around you and put you in the middle of the action.

Maybe for those that follow ghost in the shell will be a waste of time, for those that does not know anything about it could be enjoyable, maybe the title should be different to separate the original with this movie, but still tho is good.

I was afraid the U.S. live version of one of my beloved classics might not turn out good and sadly it happened exactly the way i expected. I was slightly surprised in what glory it fails.

Pretty much everything semi-important of this movie works amazingly well. The visuals are fantastic, the effects are great, the atmosphere is beautiful and the music is very good. But in the central points of what made the original hauntingly beautiful, this one lacks: Instead of a delicate view at what it means to be human, this movie rather goes for a weak action plot. The screenplay does a mediocre Matrix impression. The dialogues are just blunt and miss the grace and sensibility of its 20 year old reference. I stopped caring after 30 minutes.

As such the action scenes don't carry any weight and all the citations from the original anime come across as hollow and weightless. Which is a shame, as they are executed great! What a waste. I really wanted to like this movie, but it hardly anything but another well made yet ultimately boring action flick.

Disclaimer: Old fart sci-fi / fantasy fan, and I don't know a thing about the original anime or anime in general. Two things i do know:

First, this is more than just first-rate eye candy and directing, it has heart and soul and that bittersweet feeling that anyone who has any of the first two will instantly understand and be drawn to.

Second, 6.5 stars (Jan 2017) is a crime against this film. Surely there is some exterior reason the haters are going after it. I predict 5 years from now, it's true quality will be more accurately reflected. I'd wager it might even make it to the top 250 list someday.

As a massive fan of the original films as well as stand alone complex..  this film disappointed me..  it tried to be clever but just constantly comes off as too simple and too self explanatory..  the changes made make it into a pretty simple and generic story..  it wasn't a bad film nor was it as terrible as some other adaptations are.. but it certainly was disappointing for a GITS fan..  its a 6 at best... maybe a 6.5 for the visuals.. which were the best thing about this movie.

I went to this film expecting it not to be very good since Hollywood tends to spoil everything nowadays. However, IT'S AWESOME! I watched it on IMAX and I was amazed with what I saw, it's just gorgeous.

The film pays a tribute the the original GITS and brings new things to the table. Scarlett and Pilou are great... Even the way Major walks is identical, everything is great. I can't talk bad about this one cause there's no reason for it.

The only thing I didn't like was one or two dialog scenes where they dumb it down a little. I don't understand who are these super extremely smart people that decide that viewers are dumb. Apart from that....

I think it was great, I highly recommend IMAX for this one (this coming from someone finds IMAX a waste of money).

Forget the bad reviews, haters gonna hate.

Firstly, let's get the metaphorical elephant out of the room by saying Scarlett Johansson did OK playing the Major. Next, the guy who played Batou did a better job.

In some aspects, a decent live-action re-enactment of all the iconic scenes from the 90s anime. The effects guys, the camera and lights guys, set creators, make-up artists, costume makers and this Sanders fellow got the looks, feel and mood of the original GITS environments of the manga and anime series absolutely spot on. It's eye candy for fans who've wondered how GITS can be visually represented in a live-action film. That's all there is to have; everything else is just utter rubbish.

This film is not worthy of the title, Ghost in the Shell, because apart from the visuals, there is no semblance of it to the source material that one can consider it generous to call this "a generic cyborg action film inspired by GITS". If we are to just listen to the dialogue, and all the character names are changed and Section 9 is called something else, we wouldn't have a clue that this film is adapted from GITS. The essence that makes GITS what it is in all its different incarnations (various manga and anime) is missing and we are left with bits of shallow musings about what it means to be human in a robotic body.

So all in, if you're unfamiliar with the source material, it'll be a mildly interesting plod through a pretty but rather boringly paced sci-fi. Fans of GITS would probably wonder why bother to make a live-action adaptation if you're not going to put the spirit of the source material into the movie.

I wasn't expecting much from this film as many critics claimed it was rubbish. I however really enjoyed it. Visually beautiful and we'll shot. Great movie. I am a big anime fan and felt this film was true to that format. Don't listen to all the haters& watch it fur yourself. You will be glad that you did......

I've watched this movie twice. Before I watched the original anime and after I watched the original anime. So for those that haven't seen the original movie, it's a decent sci-if flick. Visually looks gorgeous and decently fun to watch, good movie to watch while doing chores around the house or something similar. If you're comparing this to the original. This does not hold a candle to it at all and I would put much lower than my current rating. But on its own it's a pretty decent, nothing special.

If I had to do an analogy, I'd say this movie is to the original whatwould happen if Mc Donalds tried to make sushi.

Story wise, the movie is both a dumbed down version and has major plot changes (it's about the same magnitude of difference as between the book "I am legend" and the ending of the movie that shares the same name. If you know what I mean, and are a fan of GITS, I just crushed your hopes hard).

Also visually, when I thought about GITS (1995 version, which I loved), I picture something aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. For the live action movie, aside from the restaurant scene, which looked great, I didn't like the visuals much, felt kinda cheap (esp. the city). You can tell the director tried a bit, but all in all, it's lacking a soul. On a side note : The guy playing Batou was a good cast for the role , he got the job done.

PS : And what was this BS with Kitano's dialogues ?!? Either have his dialogues in full Japanese, or in full English, but what they did here screams "Takeshi did not want to speak English, and the cast didn't want to learn 3 words of Japanese", it just felt plain awkward.

When you read this review, keep in mind that I had expected Ghost in the Shell to be a solid 10/10, and that it could quite possibly be one of the best movies of this decade. Instead, it's … tepid. I didn't hate it, but it was a bit like a nice, but not great roller-coaster: nice entertainment for the moment, but nothing you write home about.

It has lots of great CGI effects, but the characters are seriously lacking. It's like they didn't want to give the characters any texture or depth because that could detract the viewer from the special effects. I think this is more a question of direction and editing rather than acting.

Typically, I feel I can re-watch a good sci-fi movie a couple times. Whether it's more action like Minority Report or more drama like Interstellar, the rewatchability factor to me is more a question about the feeling I get from watching the movie. Sadly, the rewatchability factor for this movie is basically 0 on my part. In the end, it's like watching a very long movie sequence in a video game - but in a video game, the film sequences are just a small part of the whole experience. And that's how this movie feels in the end: like it is lacking a big part of the experience.