I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I actually liked it. I was so upset when they first announced the casting of Scarlett in the main role (not only because of the white washing, but also because I think she’s a terrible actress), but then when the trailer came out I thought that the world that was presented looked pretty interesting, and figured I’d eventually watch the film for at least that reason — I love the Total Recall remake for the same reason, not because it’s comparable to the original in terms of story, but just because I love taking in the sci-fi world that is depicted in that movie. As for the new Ghost in the Shell, on a visual level, I was not disappointed — not only do I love the world that is shown here, but I thought the film was really well shot (by a director I knew nothing about). As for Scarlett, I still think she’s the weakest link in the film (and the explanation for why she looks like Scarlett doesn’t make it better), but I still quite enjoyed watching this for the visual treat on offer.
Tag: ghost in the shell
Ghost in the Shell
After getting back into Ghost in the Shell recently through the Arise series and the new movie, I wanted to go back and re-watch the original Mamoru Oshii film. It’s always interesting for me to re-visit these movies that I watched so many times back in the day, but haven’t watched in years (in this case, surely 10-15 years or more). Even though I go in not really remembering the story, everything feels so familiar as I watch it, specifically certain scenes and imagery. I can say that this movie still really holds up, and I really enjoyed it, both for the story and the fantastic animation – there’s also a sequence that lasts of a few minutes of just scenes from the city with that haunting Kenji Kawai music that’s just fantastic. Looking forward to re-watching Innocence as well.
I was absolutely obsessed with this series today, and ended up binging all 10 episodes today. As for what this is, it takes the four Ghost in the Shell: Arise OVAs (original video animation) and re-edits them into a TV series, then adding another 2 new episodes to conclude the storyline (although, it’s really Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie that ties all loose ends). I had originally watched the first 3 OVAs (they were on Netflix), but hadn’t seen the fourth one. They did something strange with the order of the TV series, starting with the 4th OVA, which had me a bit confused, so if you’re new to it I would highly recommend you watch the series in this order: 3-8, 1-2, 9-10. The whole series is fantastic, as is the music by Cornelius – especially the opening theme song he composed for the Alternative Architecture series, which I love so much. As I mentioned, the movie that was released last year properly concludes the story arc, so I’m hoping to watch that very soon.