Read Negative User Reviews for Ghost in the Shell (2017)

0

veganoxMar 31, 2017

All style and no substance. Dumbed down from the original to accommodate the masses. Random slathering of scenes taken from the original with none of the plot importance attached. It is a visually stunning movie. It's plot is better thanAll style and no substance. Dumbed down from the original to accommodate the masses. Random slathering of scenes taken from the original with none of the plot importance attached. It is a visually stunning movie. It's plot is better than Dragonball: Evolution. But I'd rather gouge my eyes out than watch that abortion of a movie, so that's not really praiseworthy.… Expand

20 of 67 users found this helpful2047

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BarronOfDuneApr 5, 2017

First off: I don't care about the whole ScarJo casting thing. The point of The Major was always that she had an artificial body of unspecified race, and going by pure aesthetics SJ is not a bad lookalike.

No, the far more offensive thingFirst off: I don't care about the whole ScarJo casting thing. The point of The Major was always that she had an artificial body of unspecified race, and going by pure aesthetics SJ is not a bad lookalike.

No, the far more offensive thing about this movie is that it was made at all. Just like with the crapfest that was the recent Beauty and the Beast, studios don't seem to understand that for animation the art style is a huge part of the storytelling, so a live-action remake (replete with tons of greenscreen CGI, ironically) is all but guaranteed to be a soulless husk of the original. And so it is.

I don't want to go on a huge rant about the original, which is legitimately a classic even if some people get a little too overexcited about its supposed thematic depth ("what if people were... robots?"). It came practically out of nowhere with an incredibly original vision and gorgeously detailed animation that Western audiences had never really seen before. This new movie pretty much takes the overlay of that and copies some iconic scenes (shot-for-shot in some cases), but turns it into just another bland Hollywood sci-fi action outing.

Just watch the original. It holds up well and will still be enjoyed decades from now. Meanwhile I'll be amazed if anyone even remembers the ridiculous ScarJo version in a year.… Expand

7 of 14 users found this helpful77

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1

Ikereviews1Jul 19, 2019

This movie makes no sense the plot is boring and confusing. The characters are not that great. Overall this film in summary was a unlikable mess. Also this movie strays away from the original magna which does not help at all

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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2

JeffRegendApr 2, 2017

Incredibly shallow. All the meaningful questions raised by the source material don't even so much as show up. With source material that asked things like 'how much can you change before what's left isn't the same as what you started with', orIncredibly shallow. All the meaningful questions raised by the source material don't even so much as show up. With source material that asked things like 'how much can you change before what's left isn't the same as what you started with', or 'what can you trust if you give away control of your senses', this movie somehow turned that into a by the numbers, get revenge on the one dimensional bad guy, sci-fi action flick. It had a great coat of paint but absolutely zero substance. I can't fault the actors for this however. It's plainly obvious they did what they could with an atrocious script. Whether this is because the creators the film thought audiences would be to stupid to understand the concepts laid out in the original or if the script writers and producers didn't understand it themselves is questionable, although I'm inclined to say both as even when the film attempted to pay lip service to it's source it managed totally botch the message, at times delivering the exact opposite. Very disappointing, a puddle deep sci-fi action flick that simply used the Ghost in the Shell name and nothing more.… Expand

8 of 18 users found this helpful810

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3

portmanteauMar 31, 2017

beautiful art direction, stilted dialogue, absurd truncated editing and characterisation. All in all, a bit of a train wreck as a film/story. Not remotely engaging, lack lustre action. All the gloss, none of the substance. What a shame.

8 of 22 users found this helpful814

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2

Yanko_BApr 1, 2017

The biggest flaw of modern's adaptation films is the lack of respect towards the fundamental esence of the movies; Ghost in the shell is the quintessential example of how bad can you screw up franchises by selling us fake dreams. TheThe biggest flaw of modern's adaptation films is the lack of respect towards the fundamental esence of the movies; Ghost in the shell is the quintessential example of how bad can you screw up franchises by selling us fake dreams. The tolerability I had for this movie broke in the very first minutes of the film; The script is very weak in terms of carisma, the name "ghost in the shell" could be pretty much removed and I wouldn't notice the difference between a Michael Bay's, Jacob Gentry's or Wachowski's film. In terms of direction we have this weird fusion of action driven play that don't don't developes the plot at all, but even worse, before and after that we have moments of very brief scenes of Mamoru Oshii's GITS (1993) contemplative shots that miss the point of reflection towards humanity and machines, existence and self. The dialogues are probably the worst thing at all, filled with cliche phrases like "They created me. But they can not control me" and "They did not save your life. They stole it", didn't took the time to develop the meaning of "ghost", wich term is crucial to understand the film. We get a glimpse of some of the members of sector 9 team, for like 30 to 60 seconds of screen time of Togusa, Saitou, Ishikawa and Borma (Hell, I recall seing Ishikawa for 5 seconds before the movie was over when I totally forgot about him). The director just smashed whatever was in his mind when seeing the movie and removed the complexity of the play just to make it more accesible, but obviosly, was still flawed in its delivery.… Expand

6 of 17 users found this helpful611

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egoBorderOct 19, 2020

It feels like the makers produced this film based on a trailer for the original film and then got story notes from a homeless man.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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2

HorrucideApr 2, 2017

God Damn that was awful, you know it's bad when you go into a movie with rock bottom expectations and it still manages to disappoint you.
Plays like a bad remake of Robocop 2014 (let that sink in for a moment) with a smattering of theGod Damn that was awful, you know it's bad when you go into a movie with rock bottom expectations and it still manages to disappoint you.
Plays like a bad remake of Robocop 2014 (let that sink in for a moment) with a smattering of the greatest hits of GitS.
A bland, underdeveloped mess of a film without any of the nuance of Mamoru Oshii's original film version. The entire cast sleepwalks their way through bland hamfisted exposition (even Takeshi Kitano seems to be phoning it in) with the exception of Kaori Momoi who gives a good performance.
Clint Mansell & Lorne Balfe's score while decent is just more sci-fi ambience and lacks the soul of Kenji Kawaii's original (or the subtle meaning that it contained)
It's a real shame that this couldn't have been directed by someone like Neil Blomkamp or Alex Garland. Because after seeing this I wouldn't trust Rupert Sanders to direct traffic.… Expand

3 of 14 users found this helpful311

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2

GraileonMar 31, 2017

Where to start? Lets start with the VERY FEW good things. The movie is pretty. The Effects and Scenes are fantastic visually. That's about it for the GOOD. As a hardcore Ghost in the Shell Fan, I am horrendously appalled with this beingWhere to start? Lets start with the VERY FEW good things. The movie is pretty. The Effects and Scenes are fantastic visually. That's about it for the GOOD. As a hardcore Ghost in the Shell Fan, I am horrendously appalled with this being called Ghost in the Shell. There are clear MOMENTS where they seem to follow the story but they failed at trying to follow any bit of the Original Story. The notable scenes that scream to GitS fans are from all manner of points within the history of the Anime/Manga and not one full coherent story arc. Hollywood yet again takes liberties in the story to add elements that aren't even supposed to be there to try to justify how they wrote this monumental failure. I refuse to put in spoilers but it is obvious that this is more of Futuristic Cyberpunk Movie based loosely on Ghost in the Shell, for the general consumer with little to no knowledge of the Manga/Anime. This film would have been something decent had the character names been changed and been named something else entirely. If you are going to make a Ghost in the Shell movie, make one with one of the ample story lines available and stick to it. I won't even touch the casting or character portrayals in this film because the casting is mired in controversy that I want no part of and the Portrayals, while not necessarily on point, they weren't as bad as they could have been. Overall, if you don't know and or care about Ghost in the Shell pre-Hollywood movie you might love and enjoy this, but for any real GitS fans out there this is a bitter disappointment that reeks of a failure that will devastate any hopes we have for a real Ghost in the Shell live action ever to come into existence.… Expand

4 of 21 users found this helpful417

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3

TRPandaMar 31, 2017

There's only one word that can describe this movie, boring. This movie is a bore from start to finish, and not because of a lack of action, but because of a lack of anything meaningful actually ever happening. From the get go we areThere's only one word that can describe this movie, boring. This movie is a bore from start to finish, and not because of a lack of action, but because of a lack of anything meaningful actually ever happening. From the get go we are introduced to the "Major" (Scarlett Johansson), a robot with a human brain; which is intriguing. And to be honest, the premise of this film is really intriguing. Except, the execution of this premise is crap. How the hell can the future where everyone is cybernetically enhanced be boring? Congrats to the film makers for making it so. Every other shot in this movie is a shot of the futuristic city that the movie takes place in, which is cool, for a bit. Then it just becomes annoying. It's like the film makers know that it's boring so they show a cool city scape to distract people, but it doesn't work. The action is also crap. I'm not going to pretend I know much about the original anime from 1995, but I've seen clips of the action in preparation for watching this movie, and I was super hyped for the cool, stylised action. But no. The action sequences are short, lackluster and half of the time action is just skipped. There's a scene were Johansson escapes a building; and we see her take out two or three guys then it cuts to her having escaped. I wanted to see her take out an entire buildings worth of security! And then there's a scene with Batou (Pilou Asbaek) where some guys come to kill him, and before the action starts, it cuts to a scene of him driving away in his car! Why can't we see him kickass? He was a cool badass character and you skip the one action scene he has on his own! There's also a scene where Johansson has to take on a Spider-tank. I thought "this might actually get interesting" but no. She just shoots it a bunch until it dies; much like a Destiny boss - boring. And then there's the villain, or should I say villains? The first time we meet the first villain (minor spoilers ahead) he dumps a truck load of exposition and then ceases to be the villain. Then the movie adds a new villain (who granted is in the beginning of the movie, but is just shown to be a bit of a dick) who has absolutely zero set up. He's just bad because he runs a company. And his end has absolutely zero payoff because he had no set up. Overall, I get the sense that this should've been a series of films, in order to set up all of the characters, especially the villains. I'm very disappointed with this film, but his has intrigued me to go ahead and watch the orignal. 3/10… Expand

3 of 19 users found this helpful316

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3

budspencer2012Mar 31, 2017

I just came back from it. It's really disappointing compared to the anime. I was not expecting a frame to frame remake of the anime but man it was not enjoyable to watch. The story is bland and very cliche. The visuals are there, the city isI just came back from it. It's really disappointing compared to the anime. I was not expecting a frame to frame remake of the anime but man it was not enjoyable to watch. The story is bland and very cliche. The visuals are there, the city is beautiful but there is no sense of life to it. It feels sterile and dead. The supporting characters are under developed. The movie has a big lull in the middle where everything slows down to a crawl. The movie cannot find its feet properly. What made things great for the anime were washed away and replaced with predictable and 1 dimensional villain/situations. It's like one of the bad episodes in the anime series. I hope it does good money and i hope to see a sequel but man they will have to ramp up to a way better story than what we just got. As a first time person getting your Ghost in the shell cherry taken, you might enjoy this. As somewhat hardcore fans, you will go meh!… Expand

2 of 16 users found this helpful214

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2

ForemostApr 3, 2017

Visual component quite good. Unfortunately this is the only good thing in the movie. The plot is very weak. Simplest reasoning about the logic and motivation of the project 2571 ruins it from the very beginning. Especially if one comparesVisual component quite good. Unfortunately this is the only good thing in the movie. The plot is very weak. Simplest reasoning about the logic and motivation of the project 2571 ruins it from the very beginning. Especially if one compares that plot with the one from 1995 anime-movie from where several scenes simply copy pasted meaning its remastering. What is especially annoying about the movie is that the second part transforms into a slide show i.e. it seems that the authors ran out of money or tried to fit into the timelimit.… Expand

1 of 8 users found this helpful17

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3

jsharbourApr 1, 2017

Ghost in the Shell hit American theaters in 1995 with a splash, and THIS film is not a live action rendition of that original film, it's a mish-mash of the first two films with a few bits of the TV series, Stand Alone Complex, included. THEGhost in the Shell hit American theaters in 1995 with a splash, and THIS film is not a live action rendition of that original film, it's a mish-mash of the first two films with a few bits of the TV series, Stand Alone Complex, included. THE BAD

1. Whitewashing is annoying and needs to stop. Makeup and hair works wonders. What DOES NOT work is an actor ill-suited for a character. ScarJo was a silly casting for this film. Her body type is all wrong, and she doesn't look like she prepared for the role. She's a pretty woman in the right clothes. She does not pull off the cyborg warrior body at all. Lean and mean doesn't work here. 2. The backstory for The Major was way off base, and it's necessary to set up the entire premise of the show. Mess her up, and the show is lost. She was adapted to a cyborg body for the military. In this script, she was never in the military. Why, then, is she called Major? Why was her name changed? That was supposed to be a big shocking reveal but how anti-climactic can you get when fans already know her name? The sub-story about her mother and Motoko being killed and coming back as a cyborg and visiting her grave. What?
3. Batou is an Army Ranger. Best of the best. Fought in the last war (same war Major was in). He's HUGE. He's the muscle, like Briarios in Shirow's other property, Appleseed, which features a tough, lean girl (Deunan) and a big hulking cyborg male (Briarios). That's Major and Batou in GITS, a pair image that Shirow used again. Batou is not just a regular guy with eyes. His voice was wrong, his body type wrong, his height wrong. The actor (Pilou Asbaek) would have worked if he'd been a foot taller. Totally wrong casting here that made no sense. 4. The rest of the Section 9 crew (aside from Aramaki, who spoke Japanese with subtitles even though everyone else spoke English--WOT??!) were all but ignored with a throw-in scene without any character development. There's no hint that Saito is a sniper until the very moment a sniper is needed in the plot and suddenly he's Johnny-on-the-spot. Until then, he's just standing around at meetings or running with a gun. 5. The look of the characters was all wrong. Not just the casting which was a universal failure, but the costumes as well. The only character in the source material who looks remotely "Western" (Caucasian) is Togusa and he looks very Japanese in the film (via Ng Chin Han)! There are glimpses at times that look correct, which is also odd. Inconsistent. The extravagant scenery and vision of the future city was not in the source material. This isn't Blade Runner. Time wasted that could have been spent on characterization and plotting.

THE GOOD

1. I liked that many scenes from both GITS 1 and 2 (Innocence) were combined into this one film. The sad part is, these filmmakers didn't seem to understand the nuances of the story so they steamrolled the more sensitive issues. Like, the sexbot that went berserk and tried to kill everyone. In GITS 2: Innocence, the tragedy of the robot was over the head of these filmmakers. The sexbots were a technical failure in their A.I., so the manufacturer used real human slave "ghosts" under control to give life to the sexbots. "Innocence" comes from the fact that they were all little girls. Ghost-copies. 2. I liked the villain, Hideo Kuze. This character was taken from Stand Alone Complex and thrust into the role of the A.I. virus, The Puppet Master, from the 1995 film, which is bizarre (the "uploading to the net" thing). In SAC, Kuze was a very sympathetic villain fighting for the rights of refugees to LIVE. Not to immigrate, but to not be wiped out by the government. Some deep story writing there which was clearly over the head of this scriptwriter. The Puppet Master was a partially insane A.I., and how could a regular guy upload himself? 3. The finale scene with the tank and Major with Kuze (Puppet Master) talking about their past was left unresolved but well enough to conclude the film. In the original, a helicopter-bound sniper takes them out. But, the Major sympathized with the PM in the end and merged with him on the net into a new super-Major, and that explains why in SAC she is a Super Wizard Class Hacker (actual title), because she's half A.I. The resolution of this scene worked fine for the plot as it was. I don't demand adherence to the 1995 film's conclusion as a fan. I thought it ended well. I was glad when it ended, though.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Several times in the first hour of this film I nearly got up and left. I held out due to curiosity over the Major's name change, which turned out to be a groaner. Which people are calling "the twist ending". Twist ending? Because her name is really Motoko Kusanagi? Because, those minutes spent with the old lady who lost her daughter exactly the same number of years ago that Major woke up was a big surprise? For an example of a twist ending, see The Sixth Sense.… Expand

1 of 20 users found this helpful119

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3

spudApr 8, 2017

Scarlett Johansson is not a good actress. Ghost in the Shell is not a good movie. It has brief moments of lucidity, but it is essentialy the filmic equivalent of an AA member that has fallen off the wagon. This was a missed opportunity.

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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3

SkepticalHippoApr 6, 2017

I'm afraid this movie was a massive disappointment for this long-time GITS fan. While the visuals are okay - if a little CGI-heavy - they can't distract from the abysmal script, monotone delivery and virtually non-existent characterI'm afraid this movie was a massive disappointment for this long-time GITS fan. While the visuals are okay - if a little CGI-heavy - they can't distract from the abysmal script, monotone delivery and virtually non-existent character development.

With such a wealth of source material, I just can't understand how little substance there was to this film. We saw nothing of Section 9's camaraderie, nor did we see the Major acting like a kick-ass leader, organising the team, playing to their individual strengths. She was like a stroppy teenager the whole way through the movie. The complex relationship between her and Batou, or between her and "the old ape", were also mostly absent.

Gone also are any meaningful philosophical discussions on the nature of intelligence - such a core part of the GITS franchise. Instead we get a lacklustre rehash of the Robocop plot. I appreciate there are time constraints with any movie, but the 1995 movie managed to fit plenty of philosophy into its 20-minute-shorter running time, while being just as action packed.

Oh and the music, the all important music that was such a big part of the 1995 anime and the TV shows? Nope, noting remotely comparable made it into this movie. It's just dull, generic-sounding background music from start till finish. This was all the more surprising given that the music in the first trailer was pretty good.

The only redeeming features in my opinion:

- the aesthetics of the city and technology was close to that of the source material
- I thought Pilou Asbæk made for a pretty cool Batou
- Kaori Momoi was surprisingly touching as the widow encountered towards the end of the film

My advice to fellow GITS fans: pretend this movie didn't happen, and pray for GITS SAC 3rd GIG!… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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3

BorasApr 11, 2017

As a fan of the manga and the whole anime series (1198, 2015, GITS SAC 1&2, Solid State Society, Arise 1-4 and Rising, well all I can say is: NO.
This movie is horrible. I give 1.5 point to photography, the only excellence in this movie, andAs a fan of the manga and the whole anime series (1198, 2015, GITS SAC 1&2, Solid State Society, Arise 1-4 and Rising, well all I can say is: NO.
This movie is horrible. I give 1.5 point to photography, the only excellence in this movie, and 1.5 to Johansson, so much criticized (by me too) but in the end, the only valid thing in the movie. now, the bad things...too many to say.
1st, Director: my uncle Ben could direct this film better. It is unbelievable how action scene of 1998 are still better than a 2017 movie (with class A spending budget). Most of the action scenes are from a B movie, really, really disappointing how you can see magnificent images and so poor sequences

2) Content: guys, if you have tons of material to choose from, don't try to put everything in the same movie, the result will be messy, trivial and with no logical connection. that what happened here, too much content at the same time = confusion, lack of depth

3) Meaning: the whole meaning of Ghost in the Shell has been revisited in a naive, stupid, and worse, already passed argument about human life and Artificial Intelligence. That is NOT the main point of Ghost in The Shell: the point is Evolution of Sentient Being, from Individualities embodied in phisical sentient being, from Neural Networks where Identities melt into virtual new form of collective intelligences. That's one of the real point to be discussed, the loss of identity, the evolution of human being beyond physical bodies, the possibility of losing our own identity in order to transcend human body limitations. I am really surprised of how the production can spend so badly a class A budget for such a bad movie. I will forget this exist. forever.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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1

SkeptecMay 15, 2017

Scarlett's terrible acting ruined this movie. She always manages to fail at showing non-robotic emotions no matter what role she plays. That said, There were way too many plot holes in this movie. The only thing redeeming it at all isScarlett's terrible acting ruined this movie. She always manages to fail at showing non-robotic emotions no matter what role she plays. That said, There were way too many plot holes in this movie. The only thing redeeming it at all is Scarlett's nice to look at.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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0

LeeTsuiApr 11, 2017

Just went to see #ghostintheshell aka #gwailointheshell starring #scarlettjohanssen. My honest opinion follows..
Imagine being a Chinese girl or Black girl and a car full of guys drives by you shouting YOU ARE ONE HOT CHINKY!!(or N word)
NowJust went to see #ghostintheshell aka #gwailointheshell starring #scarlettjohanssen. My honest opinion follows..
Imagine being a Chinese girl or Black girl and a car full of guys drives by you shouting YOU ARE ONE HOT CHINKY!!(or N word)
Now on the one hand you feel good because a gang of guys acknowledged your beauty, you maybe feel good about it and it lifts your self esteem, and after a few moments, you think a little harder and realise you just got called a Chinky (or N word) and actually you just got verbally assaulted. Now you feel really confused and kinda in a little shock, but still confused clinging onto the compliments you were given yet at the same time feeling kinda violated in a complimentary way right?
Now that's what the **** is wrong with this movie. I mean I loved the film itself. It's a great film and in many ways really does well rewriting the old script and making it interesting for all of us people who know the anime.
But seriously WTF I mean WTF Firslty Tokyo is blatantly Hong Kong with a few CGi animations chucked over it. Anyone from Hong Kong is gonna laugh as you see Tsui Wah in the background or the HQ of Biotech as the Centre. It's kinda cool but took me out of the movie. So lazy they couldn't have CG'd IFC to not look so blatantly IFC.
Kinda a disrespect to Japan not actually using a shred of Japan.
That's not obviously my main gripe. My main gripe is the insane whitewashing of the entire movie. Ok ****ing cast Scarlett Johanssen, she was good as the Major, but why the **** does the entire population of Tokyo have to be white?! There's one ****ing Japanese dude in the entire movie, even the Geisha is a robot :)
I mean come the **** on, ok fine you wanna #whitewash a few characters, ok. But **** man every ****ing person bar a few dead henchmen was white.
I left the movie enjoying it, but feeling really frustrated by the casting of it. Like I said the movie is really good. But **** seriously you cast like 1 Japanese person, in a movie based in Tokyo, with a crack team of white american (Japanese Government) commandos and the only 2nd teir Asian is ****ing Hong Kong Chinese and not remotely in any way Japanese looking at all!!!
My god what do we have to look forward to next? Mulan by Disney with a blonde Mulan with american father etc? WTF is this ****
Please remake Spirited Away and shoot it exclusively in India and have all the cast either Indian or Black? If you can white wash this movie, why the **** not brownwash a few movies???
Please disney make Mulan an all Chinese cast, and main language in Mandarin I dare you. You'll make a ****ing fortune in China and explain to the West why you chose to make a big budget movie about Chinese people actually shot in China in their native language for 1.4Billion mandarin speaking people to enjoy.
****s sake..
So Ghost in the Shell, Good movie go watch it.
#animestillbettertho… Expand

0 of 20 users found this helpful020

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3

eagleeyevikingNov 2, 2018

While "Ghost in the Shell" has fantastic visuals, the film feels cold and lifeless throughout.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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0

kagekirazuulAug 30, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i wanted so much to like this.
but, its so bad.
this idea of “modernizing sexualized women characters” is depressing.
There’s no defending that GITS original manga and anime had gratuitous **** and ass.
However, it is in spite of those being present, that Kusanagi Motoko becomes a believable character.

SPOILER

The fact that this movie changes the search from what what makes me human to what is my past memories is not only a reveal that has very little impact, it almost feels as though the writers hadnt even seen any of the original work.

Sad. This sucked, just like netflix castlevania sucked.
If you liked that, then you will love this, and vice versa.

Scarlett Johanssen was surely restrained and not given full freedom to act. She’s been nude in other films and the shock value of the original anime’s climax of the cybernetic body bursting from a human overriding the limits of the machine is more jolting as the audience has seen Motoko in the nude so many times they forget that her body is mechanized.

The reveal that white Scarlette is actually a stilen japanese motoko does not make up for it. The story is just sorry compared with the riveting content of the original.

Seek black mirror for better done stuff.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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1

brentwshelton1Jul 8, 2017

Visuals 10...all else 0. As I never read the material this movie was adapted from I was fairly confused for the first hour until I turned it off...because....I just didnt care how it ended. confusing yet undeveloped plot, background babbleVisuals 10...all else 0. As I never read the material this movie was adapted from I was fairly confused for the first hour until I turned it off...because....I just didnt care how it ended. confusing yet undeveloped plot, background babble about what it means to be human, evil, corporations, way too few action scenes, a big yawn all around.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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0

cas514Apr 5, 2017

- One Word: Crap

0 of 15 users found this helpful015

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1

BFMJan 24, 2018

This wasn't very good on any level.
The CGI is bad, the makeup is bad (you can see where it transitions to the actor's real bodies), the cinematography is generic, the casting and acting is as bad as it can get,
there are no interesting linesThis wasn't very good on any level.
The CGI is bad, the makeup is bad (you can see where it transitions to the actor's real bodies), the cinematography is generic, the casting and acting is as bad as it can get,
there are no interesting lines said, the action scenes make you feel sleepy, as you have seen everything before (mostly in the Matrix - just that it was 20 times better in that),
and the music is ... you might as well just open a window - chances are you get the same amount of rhythm and melody.

Also why is everyone in Japan white and talking English?
Are they afraid that we, the stupid audience won't be able to "tell them apart" and are too lazy to read some subtitles?

Everybody involved, please stop making movies - you neither have talent, nor creative vision. YOU are the real robots with this movie.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

eldumloidoApr 7, 2017

Worst movie I have seen in years. Had some pretty visuals but otherwise had nothing good. They ruined the plot and characters and missed everything that was interesting about the anime.

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

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3

lastghost68Apr 4, 2017

While the visuals and special effects were very good, they completely ruined the story. If you are a fan of the original movie, you will hardly recognize the original plot. This is what Hollywood does to classics. Avoid this movie!

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

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2

QuietGiantApr 6, 2017

Saw this to satisfy my curiosity. While hoping for the best, I prepared myself for another mediocre Hollywood adaptation. I was not expecting an outright butchery. This film is completely devoid of any of the depth, nuance, or intelligenceSaw this to satisfy my curiosity. While hoping for the best, I prepared myself for another mediocre Hollywood adaptation. I was not expecting an outright butchery. This film is completely devoid of any of the depth, nuance, or intelligence that made the franchise special. In its place are some of the most tired cliches and terrible writing I've seen. The plot is painfully unoriginal and predictable; the dialogue is drab and unnatural, characters lack any personality or dimension, performances range from mildly interesting to plain awful, visuals are cribbed superficially, even the action is unremarkable despite all the flash. The whole thing basically screams, "hackneyed and lazy". The worst part, however, is how dumb it treats the viewer. Everything must be spelled out as plainly as possible, having no faith in the audience to pick up anything on their own. I didn't mean to sound so snobby when I sat down to write this review, but it's as appropriate here as it ever is. This is a stupid movie that took a brilliant property and packaged it for stupid people. If there's any shred of consolation it's that perhaps it will intrigue newcomers enough to explore the rest of the franchise. I just wish it wasn't making such a bad first impression in the process.… Expand

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

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2

FuturedirectorApr 6, 2017

A flawed, loud and unsatisfying continence-free show of excessive explosions and unbelievable stunts that cannot be saved even by Johanson's terrific interpretation or eye-popping somehow thrilling fighting sequences.

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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3

Arkl1teApr 22, 2017

The music was great, the visuals were amazing, even Scarlett Johanson from the visual perspective. The rest is **** The writting is **** characters and their scripts are a complete disaster (it felt like the scriptwritter took some randomThe music was great, the visuals were amazing, even Scarlett Johanson from the visual perspective. The rest is **** The writting is **** characters and their scripts are a complete disaster (it felt like the scriptwritter took some random words from the original script and mashed up into an incomplete sentence, leading sometimes into some non-sensical suspense which leads to nothing important afterwards). From the first hour I just wanted to leave, but I held my back hoping the story were raising its quality as time passes... but no, not worth it.

As always, when there's money to make original creations into a new movie, they have all the tools for the visuals, sounds and music, but no brain for a good story, scripting and direction...… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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2

bkristmanApr 8, 2017

Reviewing this from the trailer that showed quite enough for me to know it's a bad film.Not worth paying to see. The whole draw is to show Scarjo in a skin tight body suit and they didn't take long to get to it.
The dialogue was sad and sheReviewing this from the trailer that showed quite enough for me to know it's a bad film.Not worth paying to see. The whole draw is to show Scarjo in a skin tight body suit and they didn't take long to get to it.
The dialogue was sad and she is not a good actress so it was even worse.
Looks incredibly boring. From the ones i've seen anime is really hard to do properly in live action and these guys didn't do it either.
I'd rather watch an old Cutey Honey live action tape i have.
Much better.… Expand

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3

whoever13Apr 30, 2017

All shell, no ghost
Ghost in the Shell is a huge disappointment for anybody looking for smart sci-fi. The plot is cliché, the characters flat and the direction lacks energy throughout. While the set-design and visual effects are indeedAll shell, no ghost
Ghost in the Shell is a huge disappointment for anybody looking for smart sci-fi. The plot is cliché, the characters flat and the direction lacks energy throughout. While the set-design and visual effects are indeed stunning, they are mere rehashes from its source material and other sci-fi classics, most notably Blade Runner. Unfortuantely the director, Rupert Sanders, finds no way to make the retro-futuristic aesthetics of the film relevant to todays audience, nor does he find a universal and timeless quality in it.

What's even more heartbreaking: The film is utterly uninterested in the exploration of any of its source material's fascinating ideas. This becomes painfully obvious in the pseudo-philosophical voice-over.

Even as an action-film, Ghost misses the mark, as the action scenes, while beautifully shot and spectacularly choreographed, somehow fail to thrill or excite. The matter-of-fact professionalism in the characters' behaviour and their over-the-top skills and abilities create a weirdly unthrilling experience.

The performances throughout lack energy and personality and enhance the tedium of the predictable story.

All in all: Rupert Sander's Ghost in the Shell fails to evoke any emotion or thought, which is even more disappointing given its stellar looks and inspired source material.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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3

chrislcwApr 2, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Just a typical cyborg action eyes candy action film with cliche dialogue and bland action scenes.
The "superhero on roof top" ending scene is making this film really cheap. 1 star for the title, 1 star for Scarlett Johansson, 1 star for the stunning Geisha props from Weta Workshop.… Expand

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

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3

wrayc954Apr 2, 2017

Typically I decide whether to watch a movie based on the actors involved. So, ScarJo ... meh, not my fav but against my better judgement, I saw it regardless. I mean "LUCY" was not that bad, was it? Should have followed my instincts. To beginTypically I decide whether to watch a movie based on the actors involved. So, ScarJo ... meh, not my fav but against my better judgement, I saw it regardless. I mean "LUCY" was not that bad, was it? Should have followed my instincts. To begin with, I have never, nor in this movie, found ScarJo to be compelling. Bad acting... bad script ... left me utterly disinterested by the end of the movie which mercifully, I missed the climax refilling my popcorn .... but I was just glad it was over. Felt bad that juliette binoche was in this stink bomb. What a waste of talent. The one redeeming point of this evening was ... seeing a different movie, "LIFE", which I had intended to see to begin with. So if you have not seen "ghost" yet, then skip it and see "LIFE" instead and your money will be better spent. This is the last time will will be giving ScarJo the benefit of the doubt.… Expand

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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2

stevecamApr 3, 2017

The special effects were great, but the movie lacked depth, was very empty, did not make you think, very disconnected with any of the original work
You might enjoy this if you have not heard of Ghost in the Shell, if you are a fan don'tThe special effects were great, but the movie lacked depth, was very empty, did not make you think, very disconnected with any of the original work
You might enjoy this if you have not heard of Ghost in the Shell, if you are a fan don't bother, you will just feel like walking out half way through watching the movie… Expand

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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0

restatementsApr 4, 2017

Looks good and visually pleasing and that's about it. I was born and raised on the original anime and this is no where near what it was supposed to be. Westernized, soul-less, and simplified for the general populace. Really a sadLooks good and visually pleasing and that's about it. I was born and raised on the original anime and this is no where near what it was supposed to be. Westernized, soul-less, and simplified for the general populace. Really a sad adaptation. I wish they had just left the classic alone.

Even with the debacle surrounding the casting of SJ as Major Motoko Kusanagi, ignoring that piece. It still is severely lacking.… Expand

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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3

BackbiteJun 12, 2017

This Ghost in the Shell mashed together old plot-points from the series in a jarring way. Had this movie attempted to use an entirely original plot it would've been way better. But plot aside, as an action movie or a movie in the cyberpunkThis Ghost in the Shell mashed together old plot-points from the series in a jarring way. Had this movie attempted to use an entirely original plot it would've been way better. But plot aside, as an action movie or a movie in the cyberpunk genre in general it does well.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

gallagosJul 23, 2017

I created an account just so I could give this movie a rating. As a movie based on the Shell universe, 3/10. As a stand alone, 4/10, the only saving grace is it's visuals. Any homage is used poorly, and the characters lack the depth theI created an account just so I could give this movie a rating. As a movie based on the Shell universe, 3/10. As a stand alone, 4/10, the only saving grace is it's visuals. Any homage is used poorly, and the characters lack the depth the original creations. This is a true disappointment.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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0

LifesabummerAug 15, 2017

I joined this site just for this review. I had to comment on the absolute turd of a movie this was and anyone that gives it a good review has never seen the original or has no appreciation for it. Meaning you just thought it was a cartoon.I joined this site just for this review. I had to comment on the absolute turd of a movie this was and anyone that gives it a good review has never seen the original or has no appreciation for it. Meaning you just thought it was a cartoon. I had read some poor professional reviews at first and see now that I have seen the the movie that they were spot on. The essence of the movie and its characters were completely lost. The fact that she was american/Caucasian was to me not important as the major was a synthetic being anyway so race wasn't an issue. Everything was lost in translation I guess you could say. Terrible movie even if they did steal a few scenes from the original it was completely lost otherwise. Obviously my curiosity got the best of me and I rented it and there is six dollars and two hours I will never get back. Shame. The original was ahead of its time and very deep. This shallow turd should have been left on the cutting room floor.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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0

BobersDec 13, 2017

I had high hopes, but it was too shallow.
I dont normaly like Anime, but the original Anime is worth a watch, and in many ways the animation style makes the universe feel just that extra bit more alien

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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3

amheretojudgeApr 26, 2018

initiate project 2571..

Ghost In The Shell It is perfect for all the comic fans as the throwbacks to all the sketchy characters, unusual powers and the origin story is depicted in here but in terms of an individual feature it barely givesinitiate project 2571..

Ghost In The Shell

It is perfect for all the comic fans as the throwbacks to all the sketchy characters, unusual powers and the origin story is depicted in here but in terms of an individual feature it barely gives you a lose thread to hold on to it. Rupert Sanders' execution skills are surprisingly good but unfortunately the script didn't have enough material to feed off the audience for more than 100 minutes. Scarlett Johansson seems like a good choice to cast upon on such a role and her effort is appreciative too but despite of revolving the tale completely around her, the script doesn't offer enough range to flaunt her skills on screen. Ghost In The Shell has a decent background score, amazing visual effects and stunning make-up artist behind it but addition to that it doesn't have anything fresh in terms of plotline or even action sequences which is usually essential in such features that relies a lot upon such stuff.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

djniceyApr 13, 2020

This really is a shell of a movie, the visuals are pretty good but there is no substance, it boring, predictable and extremely cliched.

The film does a really good job of recreating the manga look and feel, although it does blatantly copy aThis really is a shell of a movie, the visuals are pretty good but there is no substance, it boring, predictable and extremely cliched.

The film does a really good job of recreating the manga look and feel, although it does blatantly copy a lot from Bladerunner, thats about as good as it gets though. The dialogue is clumsy, extremely cliched, and overly simplistic. The script is dumbed down and everything is spelled out in clumsy conversations. It starts off quite interesting, but by half way through the movie I completely lost interest in the characters and plot, it was like the actors phoned in their performances and the script writer just gave up trying to make a cohesive and interesting story.

The action scenes were OK but the acting is wooden and unconvincing, I didn't care for the characters or the story so in the end just gave up on it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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2

HurleyJul 20, 2017

Just watched 2017 Ghost in the Shell. I had very low expectations and I can categorically state my going in expectations were not even approached. It seemed like a vehicle for some ok effects with no plot, no real atmosphere (seriously anJust watched 2017 Ghost in the Shell. I had very low expectations and I can categorically state my going in expectations were not even approached. It seemed like a vehicle for some ok effects with no plot, no real atmosphere (seriously an effectively empty city with no garbage & dirt?), lots of flaws (people smoking in a clean room environment), etc.

All in all a very bad Hollywood attempt at an effects movies trying to be a new blade runner style vehicle set in an Asian city (ostensibly in Japan) with everything being western includes room sizes, beer can sizes and clothes).

The time spent watching the movie is some time I could have done something much more useful like trimming my nose hairs!!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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1

Chiscokid88Dec 22, 2017

A huge misrepresentation of the character. Scarlet Johansson has no idea what the character was meant to represent. One of the worst films of 2017.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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3

BroyaxAug 12, 2017

Le miracle n'a pas eu lieu et cette adaptation du manga déjà adapté en plusieurs animes n'a pas pu valider son passage dans la classe supérieure, à savoir le film réel triple A aux multiples millions de dollars.

Sans doute déjà en raison deLe miracle n'a pas eu lieu et cette adaptation du manga déjà adapté en plusieurs animes n'a pas pu valider son passage dans la classe supérieure, à savoir le film réel triple A aux multiples millions de dollars.

Sans doute déjà en raison de son actrice principale dont le salaire a dû je suppose bouffer une bonne partie du budget... alors qu'une simple inconnue payée au smic aurait amplement suffi : regardez les Star Wars Disney par exemple (que des novices dans les rôles principaux !).

Et bien sûr, on peut s'interroger sur le bien-fondé de ce choix : pourquoi Scarlett au juste ? elle est soit mauvaise, soit médiocre, soit passable... mais jamais au niveau (elle redouble sans arrêt, que des mauvaises notes...).

En outre, pourquoi cette "internationalisation" de la distribution avec Scarlett la Blanche américaine qui incarne une héroïne japonaise ? pourquoi dans la Section 9 voyons-nous un homme de couleur et une fille d'origine maghrébine ? que vient faire notre triste Binoche nationale dans cette galère ? et enfin pourquoi Kitano (en patron de la 9, enfin une légitimité !) n'est-il pas doublé ? les autres lui répondent en anglais (lol) -ou en français (mdr)- : ça fait désordre.

Sinon, gros problèmes de scénario avec ce désir de tout expliquer et tout mettre à plat, avec tout un lot d'explications et de justifications oiseuses et décevantes en ce qui concerne "Motoko" ; idem pour le "Marionnettiste" (incarné par le cave Michael Pitt) ou ce qui s'apparente très vaguement à l'intrigante personnalité du manga et du premier anime, très édulcoré ici en une sorte de version "pour les nuls".

Pour quelqu'un qui n'a pas vu les animes, qui n'a lu aucun manga, ce Ghost est peut-être un film de SF honnête mais pour les autres, cela est un mélange parfaitement déshonorant de plusieurs éléments des GITS, un mélange passé à la moulinette commerciale hollywoodienne et totalement dénaturé. Même Batou sonne faux et incroyablement ridicule !

Il reste une réalisation de bon aloi et de jolis effets spéciaux et même... une musique plutôt correcte. Mais bon sang, qu'on est loin de l'esprit, du "ghost" de Ghost in the Shell !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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3

Dragonfly44Nov 28, 2017

Did they even try? Besides a decent performance by Scarlett Johansson, this movie was just bad. The CGI wasn’t even that great. This movie was by far one of the worst adaptations I’ve seen in a while.

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