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"No One GitS It Right" Topic


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Coelacanth13 Feb 2017 10:17 a.m. PST

I have seen the new trailer for Rupert Sanders' live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, and I am a bit concerned. I think he doesn't get it.

Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite SF stories. I read Masamune Shirow's 1989 comic when it was released here in the States, and was captivated by its blend of action, worldbuilding, and ideas. It was adapted twice with great success. Mamoru Oshii's 1995 animated film stripped down the story to a dense rumination on the nature of humanity in the face of looming transhumanism. Kenji Kamiyama's 2002 Stand Alone Complex series is a must-see for the 21st century, with its whip-smart exploration of hacktivism and cyber-terrorism in the Online Age.

Judging by the trailer, Mr. Sanders' film looks great. It weighs in with a visually stunning rendition of the other Ghost in the Shell media. What seems to be missing are the ideas which drove those stories, replaced with a "who am I?" storyline that has been done before. I hope I am wrong, that the movie will prove to be more than a humorless Robocop knock-off; we shall see.

Ron

Jakar Nilson13 Feb 2017 11:01 a.m. PST

That pretty much sums up my feelings as well.

Personal logo Saber6 Supporting Member of TMP Fezian13 Feb 2017 11:11 a.m. PST

But, SJ and explosions!

Zargon13 Feb 2017 2:32 p.m. PST

Gaijin pokes own eye again, sigh! When will we ever learn.

Patrick R15 Feb 2017 3:06 a.m. PST

One of they key elements of the GITS universe is that cybernetics is more common than dirt. We see people transfer their consciousness into the weirdest bodies, utilitarian boxes, decorative statues etc.

The original setup tries to look on the far side of something that is already a societal fact. But the descendants of the primates who screamed loudly and chucked rocks at the first campfire for being "unnatural" and their dogmatic themes are still stuck in "machines are evil" mode and thus a Robocop redux. Because "That's how it's always been" thinking.

The other point is that in the series the politics were a mess. Half the government was corrupt or totally incompetent, the others were self-serving bastards with their eyes focused on a narrow agenda. Here we have one of those nice and tight hermetically evil governments that borders on onanistic fantasy that does evil for evil sake so perfect you can set your watch to it.

In the original Section Nine usually had to deal with blunders, cover-ups and government officials shutting down whenever something didn't go according to plan if they didn't go into blind panic first.

One of the reasons the GITS universe is so good, is that it doesn't come with a Panamax-size container ship full of preconceived ideas. It asks itself "what can happen ?" instead of the "This WILL happen !!" approach we favour in our Western storytelling while at the same time going for the titanic creative genius of having a female protagonist with -hold on to your VR glasses- LESBIAN undertones *drumroll !*

The heady atmosphere at that meeting followed by a three-hour long session of high-fiving and back-patting must be one of the high-points of the proverbial much ado about nothing.

And before you accuse this writer of condemning the story before seeing the film, the information we are presented in the trailer is the same slow-motion trainwreck we have seen unfold dozens of times before in exactly the same manner, but somehow this time they will get it right and I'll magically gain the ability to fly, have more money than god and all my minis will paint themselves …

I call it right now, it will look awesome (simply because they just had to copy the already pretty pictures) it will have standard action and a plot that seems like the accidental collision of three different scripts and it will have just enough pretentious talky crap to jaw-drop those with a very limited ability to discern Bleeped text, prompting mass postings of the famous "mind blown" meme on Twitter. Lots of Box Office and a critical rating below freezing point.

And you know what's the worst thing ? That right after the movie is out, every DVD bin will be filled with reissues of the anime, leading to outcries of "Them stoopid Japs are stealin' our movies !!!"

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