This is not the Ghost in the Shell I want to see

Mabelle 2022-03-24 09:01:32

Two days ago, I just finished the two "Ghost in the Shell" animated theatrical versions. To be honest, I have a deep feeling. Just as its live-action version was released and starred by Scarlett, it is natural to join in the fun.

In one sentence: This live-action version is very Hollywood. Compared with the theatrical version, the plot of the live-action version is completely different, but there are still many scenes in the film that pay homage to the classics, which naturally resonated a lot. The use of 3D and special effects have brought the film's sense of technology to a new level, and technology is also the core of the film, and full marks are given on this point.

The philosophical thinking of the theatrical version is not fully reflected in this film, but instead is a plot of personal grievances, which is really a big disappointment for fans of the animation version, but the ending is also a bit abrupt.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the entire film mostly uses English dialogues, which is a bit unusual in Japan, where the story takes place.

In my heart, the theatrical version has already surpassed the existence of "The Matrix" (the design of the plug at the back of the head in "Black" is also a reference to this film), and the puppet master's words are like titans. Really disappointed to see this movie - it's not the Ghost in the Shell I wanted to see.

All in all, compared to the theatrical version, this live-action version has less philosophical implications, and the exploration of the relationship between technology and human beings is also different. But if you go to the theater just to feast your eyes, watch the exciting fight scenes, and send a circle of friends to compare, this commercial blockbuster must be your first choice.

ps. I heard the adapted puppet ballad at the end of the film, and it's still the same sentence: This is very Hollywood.

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Extended Reading

Ghost in the Shell quotes

  • Batou: [Batou just got new eyes] Say something nice.

    Major: You chose those?

    Batou: They're tactical.

  • Major: Tell me who you are.

    Kuze: I am that which you seek to destroy. In this life, my name is Kuze.

    Major: What are you doing to me?

    Kuze: I have connected you to a network of my own creation. When I am finished in this world, my ghost can survive there and regenerate.

    Major: What do you want from me?

    Kuze: I became fascinated with you, reading your code while you were inside that geisha. Like nothing I had felt before and yet so... familiar. We are the same.

    Major: We are not the same. You kill innocent people.

    Kuze: "Innocent", is that what you call them? I am as they made me.

    Major: Who made you?

    Kuze: What have they told you? That you were the first? The first cerebral salvage? You were born of lessons took from my failure.

    Major: What are you talking about?

    Kuze: I was conscious while they dismembered my body and discarded me like garbage. I was lying on a table, listening to doctors talk about how my mind had not meshed with the shell that they had built, how Project 2571 had failed, and they had to move on to you.

    [removes a piece of Major's face]

    Kuze: What a beauty you are. They have improved us so much since they made me. They thought we would be a part of their evolution, but they have created us to evolve alone... beyond them.

    Major: "Evolution", that's what you call killing everyone who made you?

    Kuze: You're not listening to me.

    Major: You're a murderer.

    Kuze: They tried to kill me first. It is self-defense; defense of self! More will die until they tell me what they took!