Set in a world where an elusive hacker is wreaking havoc, the Hollywood version of the Japanese Manga downplays the action in favour of exploring ideas about future society.
Ghost In The Shell (12A)
***
In Ghost In The Shell, Scarlett Johansson gets to play a weaponised sex toy.
Her character, Major, is a barbie smooth, law enforcement cyborg Shell into which the Ghost of her brain/ memories/ soul have been poured. For entirely sound technological and tactical reasons, she invariably goes into action unclothed.
This is the Hollywood version of a 1990s Japanese animation, itself based on a Manga, which went on to spawn a whole host of spin offs. The original big screen incarnation's dense narrative took some following; this new one rather less so.
A futuristic thriller directed by Rupert Sanders, it largely ditches the original's narrative, in favour of giving Major a back story and having the plot be about her search for her origins.
The company that created her though are only interested in her being a profitable product. As such, it's like a remake of the remake of Robocop.
A dull route to take, but this is not a sanitised or overly simplified adaptation. It hasn't taken a richly detailed piece and simply turned it into a mindless action film. Indeed, there's precious little mindless action to behold here.
It is genuinely interested in exploring its themes and its future society.
It is set in an overcast, rainy future Hong Kong made up entirely of skyscrapers and skyscraper sized holographic figures, benign Godzillas that stand between the buildings delivering advertising messages. It does look spectacular, especially on a 3D Imax screen; like nothing you've ever seen before, but also like just about every other post Blade Runner vision of the future.
It is attempting to show us a visually subjective future, a society where you cannot believe your eyes and reality is almost a meaningless concept.
This is bold but in an era where big films are often almost entirely artificial and give you nothing 'real' to focus on, it can leave the film resembling another unruly splodge of CGI mush.
It doesn't quite work, but if it fails, it fails honourably and is quite enjoyable.
Its star does wonders in the lead role. Johansson is a fine actress but a really brilliant movie star. As Major she balances the requirements of playing someone alienated inside her own body, with the need to be an identifiable, audience-engaging lead character.
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