'Ghost' offers big ideas, standard delivery
By: DAN BENNETT - Staff Writer | ∞
"Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" C
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures/Go Fish Pictures
Rated: PG-13 (for violence, disturbing images and brief language)
RT: 100 minutes
The sequel to the 1995 anime hit that for a while topped the video sales charts, "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" again attempts to define humanity and what it means to be alive, through the use of nonhuman characters.
The year is 2032, and the world is heavily populated with cyborgs ---- robots with human spirits ---- and dolls, which are robots with no human components, physical or spiritual. Batou is a cyborg detective investigating the case of a doll who murdered her owner, defying her programming.
As Batou continues his investigation, he becomes increasingly drawn into a nasty underground of sleaze and corruption to get to the shocking truth behind the doll's behavior.
The film is action-packed, but also keen on exploring the bigger-picture issues of humankind's future, our true purpose, and how technology and our misuse of science can take us down the least desirable paths.
The journey, though, is littered with small, unnecessary shocks and genre cliches, and even if we can appreciate the technical artistry of "The Ghost in the Shell" sequel, the film's intentions are muddied in its delivery.
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