GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE
RATING: 3/10
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PLOT:
Here's the official plot outline for this movie: "It is the year 2032 and
the
line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond
distinction."
Here's my take: "It is the year 2004 and the line between a cohesive,
entertaining motion picture and a piece of esoteric techno-drivel has been
blurred into a little something called INNOCENCE."
CRITIQUE:
To describe this film as the worst movie that I've seen at the Cannes Film
Festival so far is to do a disservice to all other movies that actually
attempted to put together a narrative that makes sense on actual cinematic
level. Watching this film was like reading a really complicated, boring,
technical computer manual while being inundated with so-so visuals and
awful
characterizations all at once. I don't remember the last time that I
wanted to
walk out of a screening so badly, but after about 1/3 of our audience
disappeared about the film's first half, I was envying every single person
who
got up and followed. In fact, I had to reach down and grab my nuts at some
point, just to make sure that I didn't slip away into lala-land after
umpteen
horrible quotes from the film's characters from the like of Confucius, the
bible, poets, etc... Does anybody talk like normal people in the future?
Not
according to this smorgasbord of lame characters spouting inane nothings
into a
plot that revolves around humans, robots, ghosts and some other
inexplicable
futuristic mumbo-jumbo. To understand this film is to obtain a thesis in
the
field of robotechnology with mentions of E-brains, ghost dubbings,
internal and
external memory banks, ginoids, cyborgs and firewalls dropped in like it
might
be interesting to anyone but computer hackers and the folks behind the
creation
of this abomination. I usually get press kits on all films, but I never
read
them because I want to make sure to keep my perspective as a "regular
movie
fan" when I write my reviews, and in the case of this film...dude, I just
didn't get it...like...at all! What the fuck are you guys babbling
about?!?
Top that with the fact that the animation is decent, but pretty basic 2D
stuff,
mixed in with over-the-top colorful 3D stuff every now and again
(specifically
a visually impressive parade sequence that has NOTHING to do with the
story,
but was nice to look at, I guess), an amazingly uncharismatic lead robot
character, a lame-duck sidekick, an opening scene that features a woman
discussing the intricacies of robots and the like for about 5-10 minutes
(hey
man, I came to watch a movie, not to listen to some lecture on the future
of
technology, blah-blah-blah!), two very basic "action sequences", very odd
5-10
"pauses" by characters after talking in certain scenes (doesn't feel
"real",
guys...you're taking me OUT OF THE MOVIE!) and a conclusion that can only
remind one of how "easy-to-understand" the MATRIX sequels were and you've
got
yourself one, big mess-pile of a film. But that's just my opinion, folks.
If
philosophy, the intricacies of futuristic technology, robotics, memory
drives,
characters who speak in quotes all the time and a plotline with enough
complexities for you to devote an entire college semester to its
deconstruction, interests you...well, okay, I'm being an ass. Bottom line,
I
considered this screening a torture session for myself, one which I
somehow
managed to pass. The best praise that I can give this movie is to thank it
for
not running any longer than 100 minutes. One minute more, and I might've
passed
out from extreme lameness. I think this film actually makes WAKING LIFE
look
cohesive. Oh yeah, and its musical score annoyed me too. Grating. PS: I
spit on
the folks in the Cannes Selection Committee for choosing this motion
picture as
one of the 19 films on the official ballot for the Palme D'Or. Patooey!
Where's JoBlo coming from?
A.I. (8/10) - Cowboy Bebop (7/10) - Final Fantasy (5/10) - Matrix (8/10) -
The
Matrix Reloaded (6/10) - The Matrix Revolutions (6/10) - Minority Report
(8/10)
- Spirited Away (6/10) - Titan A.E. (7/10) - Waking Life (4/10)
Review Date: May 19, 2004
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Writer: Mamoru Oshii
Producers: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Toshio Suzuki
Voices: Akio Otsuka as Batou
Atsuko Tanaka as Major Motoko
Koichi Yamadera as Togusa
Genre: Anime
Year of Release: 2004
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(c) 2004 Berge Garabedian
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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1285276
X-RT-TitleID: 10004115
X-RT-SourceID: 573
X-RT-AuthorID: 1021
X-RT-RatingText: 3/10
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