Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/809226
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 APRIL 2017 38 This Week BASED on a Japanese manga of the same name which subse- quently spawned a multimedia franchise – the most notable of which is the full-length 1995 anime directed by Mamoru Os- hii – Ghost in the Shell has made its arguably inevitable leap to the live action big screen experience, with an American-friendly slice of cyberpunk eye candy from Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders. Much to the chagrin of all those who believe Asian actors deserve a level playing field in the con- temporary mainstream cinema landscape, its star – Scarlett Joh- nasson – is also very much an American-friendly face. But this potpourri of interna- tional flavours may just be what makes this flawed but visually stunning re-tread of the 'man vs machine' trope a more than worthwhile pre-summer block- buster. In the near future, Major Mira Killian (Johansson) is said to be the first of her kind: a human who is cyber-enhanced to be a foolproof anti-terrorist killing machine – as commissioned by the head of the Hanka Corpora- tion, Cutter (Peter Ferdinando) and midwifed by the scientist Dr Ouelet (Juliette Binoche). When a new cyber-terrorist threat ap- pears on the scene, Major is deter- mined to stop it against all odds. But the deeper she delves into the machinations of the shadowy figure who manipulates the ubiq- uitous cybernetically-enhanced individuals to its will, the more she starts to question the narra- tive about her past that's been fed to her. And when the 'glitches' that supposedly reveal her true memories begin to intensify, she begins to question whether she's on the right side of this battle at all. Where the original anime is often held up as an exemplary piece of pop art – boasting shoot 'em ups against dazzling dysto- pian backdrops while offering up plenty of cheesecake eye candy, as well as being a somewhat philo- sophical look at how humanity could be sidelined by the rise of Artificial Intelligence – Sanders' film, penned by Jamie Moss, Wil- liam Wheeler and Ehren Kruger, takes a far safer and more Holly- wood route with its storytelling. Much like The Matrix was back in the day, this less an edgy work of politically engaged and philo- sophically engaging cyberpunk, and more of a traditional (read: Hollywood-friendly) 'hero's jour- ney' narrative with a cyberpunk gloss. The cues here are closer to Western sci-fi touchstones like Frankenstein (Major's relation- ship to Dr Ouelet in particular) and Robocop (with an evil cor- poration as the key source of our heroes' woes) than the more nuanced representation of man- kind's relationship with tech- nology that is suggested by the source franchise. And that's okay. Sanders en- sures Major becomes a heroine we can root for, with an arc we can recognise and a humanity we can latch on to. And boy, does the world she inhabits look pret- ty. Skylines with holograms that pop out, and an endless supply of detailed visual delight fills every frame in a multicolured, trippy frenzy that just about justifies the price of admission. Unsurprisingly, the casting of Johnasson as the cybernetic lead- ing lady here more than raised a few eyebrows – it stirred up an intense (and arguably, much- needed) debate about race rep- resentation in Hollywood; spe- cifically – even if the manga and anime versions of the Ma- jor character were not coded as Asian per se, it would have been nice for an Asian actress to step into the leading role of a project that is so deeply marinated in a Japanese milieu. But the fact remains that, sadly, Asian actresses with the power to draw in wide audiences in English-speaking films lie few and far between these days, and a high-budget feature like Ghost in the Shell requires true star power – i.e., Scarlett Johnasson-grade star power – to stay afloat in an increasingly risk-averse industry. Luckily, however, Johansson is not just big enough a star to at- tract audiences… she's also be- coming something of a veteran when it comes to playing non- humans. Having taken on the voiceover of another AI presence in Spike Jonze's Her (2014) and a man-eating alien in Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin (2015) – a role that perhaps cleaves even closer to Ghost in the Shell's neo- Frankenstein narrative – Johans- son has mastered a controlled, glazed look and vocal pitch that fits the role of Major like a glove. While hardcore fans of the source material may be slightly miffed at Rupert Sanders' cava- lier and wholly 'Americanised' take on this landmark piece of cy- berpunk narrative, in and of itself the live action adaptation makes for a fun evening at the movies – with a generic narrative en- gine that putts along unremark- ably but unobtrusively, allowing you enjoy the balletic action and stunning visuals without worry- ing about the story all that much. IN CINEMAS TODAY EMBASSY CINEMAS Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Beauty and the Beast (PG) 10:00, 13:00, 15:40, 18:20, 21:00 Fist Fight (15) 10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 Kong: Skull Island (12A) 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 Smurfs: The Lost Village (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 18:50, 20:55 Ghost in Shell (12A) 10:25, 13:25, 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 CHIPS (15) 16:05, 21:00 Power Rangers (12A) 10:15, 13:25, 18:20 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 EDEN CINEMAS St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The Lost City of Z (15) 13:00, 15:50, 18:40, 21:30 Logan (15) 13:00, 15:45, 18:30, 21:15 Power Rangers (12A) 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 Kong: Skull Island (12A) 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:05, 23:35 Life (15) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00 Beauty and the Beast (PG) 14:00, 15:00, 17:00, 18:00 20:00, 21:15, 22:50 A Quiet Passion (12A) 14:00, 20:40 CHIPS (15) 14:05, 16:15, 18:25, 20:45 Ghost in the Shell (12A) 14:05, 16:20, 21:00, 23:25 Fist Fight (15) 14:10, 16:15, 18:30, 20:40, 22:50 Smurfs: The Lost Village (U) 14:10, 16:25, 18:45, 20:55, 23:05 Free Fire (15) 14:15, 16:25, 18:35, 20:50, 22:55 The Salesman (12A) 16:35 EMPIRE CINEMAS Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Kong: Skull Island (12A) 13:35, 16:05, 18:35, 21:05 Beauty and the Beast (PG) 13:15, 15:55, 18:35, 21:15 Power Rangers (12A) 13:20, 18:30 CHIPS (15) 16:15, 21:05 Ghost in the Shell (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:30, 20:45 Smurfs: The Lost Village (U) 14:00, 16:30, 18:35, 20:45 The Lost City of Z (15) 14:00, 18:15, 21:05 Fist Fight (15) 13:45, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ GHOST ★ ★ ★ ★ HOST ★ ★ ★ COAST ★ ★ BOAST ★ TOAST FILM By Teodor Reljic GHOST IN THE SHELL (12A) ★ ★ ★ More shell than ghost, but that's alright Geisha-bot: Ghost in the Shell presents a deliciously designed world Scarlett Johnasson is part human, part robot in this entertaining but wholly Americanised take on the classic cyberpunk anime