There’s been a lot of talk around the live-action adaptation of acclaimed Japanese anime Ghost In the Shell. Most of the talk though has focused on the fact that star Scarlett Johansson is about as Japanese as eating apple pie on the Fourth of July while legally carrying a high-powered assault rifle you bought over the counter at a supermarket (too much?). But looking past what could be potentially be another case of Hollywood whitewashing, the question has to be asked whether this will actually be any good.
Besides for Johansson, the movie has a hell of an international cast including cult favourite filmmaker Beat Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk and more. Then there’s director Rupert Sanders, whose Snow White and the Huntsman wasn’t the greatest, but it was still better than I thought it would be. For me though, the real feather in his cap is the award-winning short he made as part of Microsoft’s massive ad campaign for Halo: ODST. The style he showed off there is actually a pretty good fit for adapting Masamune Shirow’s classic story about a future in which technology is so prevalent that even people can be hacked.
And then there’s the film’s screenwriter, Jonathan Herman, who marked himself as a major talent when he won an Oscar for the Straight Outta Compton screenplay. For GITS he will also be adapting the popular Laughing Man storyline from the GITS: Stand Alone Complex anime TV series.
And all of this sounds really good. But will the movie actually be good? Well, we can’t say until we see it. And last night we finally got to see a few small pieces of it. Put out by Paramount during the season two finale of Mr. Robot (oh, how clever!), five little teaser trailers were released. They give away practically nothing about plot, but if you’ve ever watched the anime, then you will know that Sanders and co are actually doing a pretty good job here of perfectly nailing the off kilter tone and look of it all. Barring Johansson’s complexion of course.
Check them out below!
So what do you guys think?
Ghost In the Shell also stars Karai Momoi, Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara and Tuwanda Manyimo. It is scheduled for release on March 31, 2017. Here’s the official synopsis:
Ghost in the Shell follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.
Last Updated: September 22, 2016
Original Heretic
September 22, 2016 at 09:08
Considering that most anime characters do not look Japanese at all, I see no issue with casting Scarlet in this role.
Matthew Holliday
September 22, 2016 at 09:53
Well according to anime, all Western women have blonde hair and are like 7ft tall, so Scarlet’s about as japanese as it gets according to that.
Guava_Eater
September 22, 2016 at 15:36
lol that’s if they aren’t using white, green, blue, pink, purple etc colour hair.
An anime character’s hair colour is chosen to match their personality and Japanese interpretations of the traits those colours represent.
Probably says something of their impressions blondes
Guava_Eater
September 22, 2016 at 15:34
Actually I read somewhere that Japanese Anime fans were quizzed about this topic and they all seemed to believe that Anime characters were portrayed after Japanese people and not Westerners. It appears to be in the Eye of the Beholder.
Original Heretic
September 22, 2016 at 15:38
There are loads of examples I’m thinking of. None of these look Japanese to me. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe1fb46268267a09da998979ef6f32255e4272f1dc2f37a9b00a5d0a287f353b.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8685e5b93adb03925d35b12405925c5e279e56f303a810e400af1561fd79f316.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0bf303a1cc4e9875b93fe9a6a30d8ea04304411f5c234ff04a62515695228fce.jpg
Guava_Eater
September 22, 2016 at 15:56
And the point I was making was that a Japanese Anime fan will tell you that none of them look Western to them…..
Yes, these same pictures.
Original Heretic
September 22, 2016 at 16:00
I wonder if the Japanese think we’re as weird as we think they are…
Guava_Eater
September 22, 2016 at 16:13
Almost certainly… probably more so
Deceased
September 22, 2016 at 09:40
I’m looking forward to this…
Matthew Holliday
September 22, 2016 at 09:40
Trailers look a bit cheesy, basically lucy 2.0
Johann
September 22, 2016 at 10:58
This will only be GITS if they have this in the movie
Kervyn Cloete
September 22, 2016 at 11:11
Still one of my most favourite pieces of anime music ever
Darren Peach
September 22, 2016 at 12:25
Seeing as you used the term Whitewashed… I have a question for you. When does all the speech pertaining to equality start becoming a form of hate mongering ? Honest question. While there is a valid reason for this term to exist, Does it not in it’s nature serve to undermine the relevance of white people ? Is there not a inherit counter point to be made that anything that infers white is bad and all we do and have done is evil, which could easily be interpreted as a form of hate speech ? Sure, there are multiple profound historic examples of inequality that occur around white rule, but my overriding point is there is a excess of unchecked anti-white sentiment that has crept into mainstream thinking.
Just food for thought, While there may be ample justification to use the term whitewashing, It can easily be misconstrued as a way to demonise our culture. I am reacting to this terms because it’s a incredibly negative term and serves to make one feel like shit. Is it not truly liberal to understand this and be conscious of the fact that we all have a point of view and that certain terms are inherently hatefull ?
Draco Lusus
September 22, 2016 at 13:46
SJW everywhere…
Dawid Eduard Roestorf
September 22, 2016 at 13:45
Nope, Not going to watch this, no way no how. To many adaptations destroy the original. Anime can stay Anime
Darren Peach
September 22, 2016 at 13:48
But looking past what could be potentially be another case of Hollywood whitewashing, the question has to be asked whether this will actually be any good. So, Are you saying that because white people are cast in this movie, You might not enjoy it ?