Ghost in the Shell (2017)

[WaylanderToo]

Watched this in IMAX 3d - WOW! That really was a feast for the eyes, quite spectacular. I loved it it. Quite a bleak vision of a possible future and I guess it does raise questions about tech and how we interact with it.

As an aside I was surprised by how few people were in the cinema - friday evening 20.30 there were no more than a dozen people

 

[Lumens]

I love the original but have hopes for this remake.

Maybe it does not have enough fans to draw big crowds... Would't surprise me.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The tech in the trailer looks fascinating - but Scarlet Johansson looks like she's wearing a tight bodysuit to emulate full nudity, so I can't get this for the family.

 

[Rodders]

I haven't seen it yet, but want to.

I have to say that I don't understand the casting of a non Oriental woman.

 

[Lumens]

I can see why she was cast, with her ability to have that blank look, yet seem intelligent behind it. She has been typecast for it many times, even in "Her" where her blank look is implied.

I think she is OK as an actor though, as long as she has the right directors behind her.

 

[DrMclony]

I look forward to seeing this and I do feel the rather vocal criticism of the casting misses a lot. I don't believe it is whitewashing or anything like that, I think this is, as it has been called by those making it, an adaptation. As such, big dang deal. Didn't hear the Shakespeare fans moaning about West Side Story - another more well known adaptation.

The Americans have remade (and butchered in many cases) so many Japanese films I have lost count, I can't for the life of me understand why this one gets singled out, when a lot of those bitching about it are the same people who think Sara Jessica Parker stars in a great original US film called "the Grudge"...

 

[WaylanderToo]

I look forward to seeing this and I do feel the rather vocal criticism of the casting misses a lot. I don't believe it is whitewashing or anything like that, I think this is, as it has been called by those making it, an adaptation. As such, big dang deal. Didn't hear the Shakespeare fans moaning about West Side Story - another more well known adaptation.

The Americans have remade (and butchered in many cases) so many Japanese films I have lost count, I can't for the life of me understand why this one gets singled out, when a lot of those bitching about it are the same people who think Sara Jessica Parker stars in a great original US film called "the Grudge"...

interestingly I would imagine that Heimdall wouldn't actually look like Idris Elba....

 

[DrMclony]

Well I watched it, and I loved it. On the whitewashing sillyness, I had to confirm my memory, so I pulled out my original 1992 manga, and had a look through. In every frame when Kusenagi's eyes are shown close up, she has a Caucasian fold. No other character has it. So it seems the US adaptation got it right after all!

 

[Brian G Turner]

The tech in the trailer looks fascinating - but Scarlet Johansson looks like she's wearing a tight bodysuit to emulate full nudity, so I can't get this for the family.

Well, it was only a 12 rating and we watched it last night. Not a bad attempt at remaking the anime into a live-action with some nice special effects. However, I didn't feel particularly engaged by the story in the original let alone the remake, so it was just okay viewing.

The whitewashing controversy seems to have been a red herring - I think there are something like 2 Asian figures in the entire film, with everyone else Western. A Japanese story remade specifically for an American audience.

 

[HareBrain]

A Japanese story remade specifically for an American audience.

I thank my lucky stars the attempt to do this with Akira never got off the ground.

 

[Star-child]

I thank my lucky stars the attempt to do this with Akira never got off the ground.

They keep talking about doing Robotech.

On whitewashing:
The 2017 film is primarily an adaptation if the original film, where Kusanagi is depicted in a off the shelf Caucasian body identical to the stolen one. It is easy to see why a fan of that film would think of the character as a white looking woman.

The film suffered because it was an origin story rather than a film about an established expert.