Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

Just so...so bad

From my favorite movies..

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It was weird not to see the main character from the last movie, Motoko, show up until much later in the film. What I love about this movie is that it isn't just a retread of the first one. It actually does work hard to be its own identity while still doing a good job of continuing the story. The first one is better, because this really did get confusing at times. There were obvious bits of CGI in this movie and it did look jarring. For the most part, it was still a wonderfully animated film and it has some of the most realistic depiction of traditionally animated humans I've ever seen.The best parts of this movie are probably the talking bits with how philosophical they are. This is really what makes the series so good. It's not just nothing but continuous action. Of course, the action is great when we get to see it. We get all the amazing designs of the first film while giving us a new story. I wish I had known more about this series, because it was really hard to follow. What matters is that I had a ton of fun watching it and am glad to have seen it. ***1/2

This sequel doesn't come anywhere near the original in either story, atmosphere, artwork, or provocativeness. From the onset, the viewer is slammed with a philosophical quandary, this is given by the cyber- coroner and feels so out of context that it appears forced. Whereas, in the original, it was subtly woven throughout the film and its context. You just don't get that here.I don't know if this is Disney's influence at work... The first film was a little convoluted, though, with a little brain power you could figure it out. For "Innocence" they give it to the audience in black and white.Then you have the appearance of digital artwork, fused and mixed with the more original. For most of the time, this works, though it does have less effect on building atmosphere, as does the setting and direction of the scene. The worst scenes containing digital art are the cars driving down the street. The street backgrounds are dark with a mat lustre, howbeit, the cars are ultra shiny bright metallic. The reflections flowing over the surface of the car doesn't tally with their surroundings. This draws the viewer out of the story to register the imperfection of the scene, this hurts the movie as you want your viewer to feel as though they are apart of the story and not a third party just watching.The story was a nice follow-up, even though I don't think is was told all that well. Something is happening to the sex-bots! For some reason, they are malfunctioning and killing their owners and whoever's in the vicinity before committing suicide. Section Nine is called in as this could be an act of terrorism since robots cannot kill humans or themselves.Under better hands, this could have been as great as the original film had they decided to entwine the philosophy, the mystery and thriller elements, and mood and ambiance into the story and artwork instead of segregating them and lessening the power of the piece.Worth watching if you've seen the original but be warned it's not as good.

I am not a card carrying anime fan but I like the best of what all genres of film have to offer. Ghost 2 is a mesmerizing visual feast garnished with the best dialog I have ever witnessed in anime. The beauty of this movie is that it does not spoon-feed anything to the viewer. The plot is complicated but can be followed effortlessly. I saw a review that said the plot was murky. I don't understand why a viewer thinks they have to know everything about the plot. Does the director have to reveal all and make it easy to understand? Good art, in my opinion, is not easily understood. If it were easy to understand, it would require less thought. Less discoveries would be made about the artist and ourselves. The makers of this film have proved that it is possible to make an intelligent film with action. I was entranced by the mood and tone of the film. I found myself wishing I was in the world I was watching on the screen. I wanted to be there with the characters and walk the dark streets with them. It is a detective story AND an exercise in Philosophy, which, though a strange pairing, works beautifully here. The main characters wander through a hauntingly beautiful and dark future world seeking knowledge of themselves while they do battle with the evil men of their future. The dialog is peppered with philosophical and literary references that span the length of history and are not confined to the Eastern schools. Our heroes are never melodramatic or cheesy while bouncing philosophical quotes off of each other. This movie is pure poetry while maintaining a sharp edge. Hard to pull off.The Ghost in the Shell films are asking us, the viewers, a question. What is life? What are the differences between Man and Machine and what are the similarities? Where does meaning in our lives come from? Are we human because we feel, or are we more human when we sacrifice our feelings for the greater good? Which is superior? Man or machine? The fact that the director is challenging us to answer these questions for ourselves shows the mark of a true artist. Throw in the absolutely gorgeous visual side to the film, and its' mind-blowing action scenes, and you have a masterpiece of thought provoking entertainment. I would highly recommend only watching this at night or on a rainy day as it can only lend to the captivating mood of this movie. Quite simply it is one of the finest films I have ever seen- anime or otherwise.

The first Ghost in the Shell was phenomenal. It had all the philosophy, the action, and the cinematography to make it one of the greatest anime ever made. Without it, The Matrix would not exist. It's an important film. The sequel, Innocence, improves upon just about everything, and makes for a fantastic audiovisual experience. In fact, it might sound strange, but I think it's one of the best films of all time.First off, the hand drawn animation is quite three dimensional. Some people insist that it's rotoscoped, however what I've read and viewed says otherwise. The computer-generated imagery is brilliant, and creates an eerily beautiful environment for the feature. It still has that human touch.The plot is good, but the philosophy is really where the film shines. It asks us; what is a human? Is it the soul, or is it the shell? It challenges us, and leaves us with an interesting question still open for debate even after the movie is finished. In fact, it still is an open question after multiple viewings. It's a must-see for fans of the original, and is a great stand-alone film also for those new to the series. It's definitely worth watching. It's definitely one for purchase, and not for rental.