Ghost in the Shell (Teaser)

[Joker]

I've seen many films about identity and contemplation. Often with little dialogue and in black and white! Cinephile street creed, yo. Anyway, at some point you just realize many directors often have little to say, but say it beautifully.

We're throwing around street cred? Well, I see your qualifications and raise you four years of film school and an average of 600 films per year at my peak. So, I'm not entirely out of my depth when I say I recognize plot and character development when I see it.

Anyway, the trailer is out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg

From the trailer it seems they've shifted the focus from Section 9's work and Motoko's existential crisis to an exploration of her past. I know it's a little too early to make that assumption but that's the vibe I'm getting from it.
I've read that they've taken elements from both seasons of the series and the two first movies and made all of that into one movie. They're going with the Laughing Man plot from the first season while using the villain from the second season while jamming in scenes from Ghost in the Shell and Innocence.

We'll see how it turns out. But I'm increasingly aware of how ridiculously biased I am. Every familiar thing I saw in the trailer, I automatically compare it to the corresponding scene in the original content. I don't think I'm the audience for this movie.

 

[Imaculata]

I don't care about street cred, I care about arguments.

I see things in the trailer that I like, and I see things that I don't. I still have a lot of trouble with the look of the characters, and with basically any scene where Johansson portrays the Major. I also still don't see the sort of mood that I'd like to see for the world of Ghost in the Shell. I also don't like the look of the city.

 

[Joker]

I don't care about street cred, I care about arguments.

You're right. That was unnecessary. The trailer got me worked up.

 

[Morrus]

I've never seen the cartoon, but that trailer didn't really do much for me. Looked very formulaic.

 

[Ryujin]

I've never seen the cartoon, but that trailer didn't really do much for me. Looked very formulaic.

Unfortunately the problem here, as with many seminal works, is that they are copied so much that the original can end up looking formulaic, when later viewed.

 

[MarkB]

The trailer makes it feel like too much of a retread, with many scenes being direct copies of scenes from the original anime movie. I can see that they're trying to appeal to fans of the original, but the movie needs to do more than slavishly copy its source material. So far, there's too little sign of it having the potential to establish its own identity.

 

[Imaculata]

The trailer makes it feel like too much of a retread, with many scenes being direct copies of scenes from the original anime movie. I can see that they're trying to appeal to fans of the original, but the movie needs to do more than slavishly copy its source material. So far, there's too little sign of it having the potential to establish its own identity.

Spot on. It needs to be its own thing.

I understand that they are trying to be true to the original manga, while also taking some cues from the anime. But I'm not seeing a vision here. I'm not getting a vibe, like with the Valerian trailer. And btw, that movie may end up being terrible, but at least its clear right from the Valerian trailer that Luc Besson has a vision of what it should be. With Ghost in the Shell, it still looks like a light retread of the anime, but with not enough new ideas. And I really don't find Johansson convincing as the Major. She simply comes across as far too vulnerable.

The original anime had a very strong feeling of melancholy, and light depression. It wasn't a happy movie. Everything about the city in the anime looked decayed. And I know that according to the director, that is what they are going for: cities built on cities... but I'm not seeing it. Not from the trailer at least. It looks stale... dry... without voice.

 

[Kaodi]

As I said in a friend's post on Facebook, I am non-plussed that they are going with have an existential crisis over identity rather than over humanity. The Major knows who she is. The conflict has always been from asking what she is.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

This is a potentially controversial, unhappy, subject. But it is something that has been playing at my mind.
Have you ever considered that Ghost in the Shell is a peculiar kind of rape fantasy; the Puppet Master rapes and effectively impregnates the Major.

 

[Joker]