Ghost In The Shell 2 - Innocence Reviews

Bloody Hell

I just saw this film in the cinema, and without doubt it is the most visually stunning piece of cinema I have ever seen.

The CG, having moved on in the 8 or so years since the original Ghost was released, sits much happier with the traditional cell animation resulting in something I ve never experienced before.

The first 15 minutes completely blew me away and I thought the film was on for five stars. However, the director takes the film on a slightly muddled journey of philosophical thought about the notions of self and existence that become a little tedious at times (although one always has to expect a little of this from anime movies). The dialogue too is a bit poncy; quotation after quotation from various great thinkers.

The film's awesome set action pieces on the other hand keep it afloat.

I think this film is best watched in the cinema or at the least on a big tv with a descent sound system to blast out the amazing sound design.

If you like a bit of maturity in your films or are an anime fan then definately see this film.

Stunning

Wielding a stunning combination of traditional anime and cgi rendered imagery, Ghost in the Shell 2 depicts epic urban landscapes and circuit board snapping fight scenes in a way that has scarcely been seen before in the field of animation.

Mamoru Oshii manages to provide more than just futuristic eye candy

with an intellectually engaging plot and haunting soundtrack that weaves some truely memorable scenes.

Rather than suffering from sequel syndrome, Innocence often outperforms it's predecessor and easily stands as a cult classic in it's own right.

[Highly rated reviewer]

a masterpiece

Every scene and detail in this film has been designed with an almost obbsessive perfection which leaves the whole thing looking mesmorizing.

The film is a futuristic vision of our relationship with technology and an essential for Bladerunner fans.

Filled with philosophy, detailed storyline and complex character the film is nothing short of genius and it blew my mind to the point where I was joining in with the plot and challenging my own thoughts of humanities excistence and meaning.

Genius.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Complex but Beautiful

This is everything everybody has claimed it to be in terms of visual flare. The seamless combination of animation techniques, handdrawn and CG. The Ghost in the Shell world is a testiment to the influence of the rain-washed neon Bladerunner. Bright and shiny technology combined with a dark and dingy underworld. The colours used and the glare technique is just a wonder to watch. Pay attention when Batou takes a trip aboard the bird like copter/plane, breathtaking. The futuristic styling is contrasted with old cars etc in typical manga style reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII.

However, amongst all this beauty is a very concept-heavy philosophical story. Fans of the Ghost in the Shell film and series will be prepared for this. Newbies may find themselves lost in endless quotes and theories. Ghost in the Shell certainly requires multiple viewings before its entirity will be understood. But I believe that the combination of beauty and intellectual story was what made the first Ghost in the Shell so popular in the first place.

Just sit back and enjoy the show. If you like things simple, turn off the sound and just watch the view.

Confusing

At times the look of this movie is absolutely amazing but the story is extremely hard to follow, making it difficult to watch. Maybe something lost in the transaction from Japanese to English.

Not an essential viewing of fans of the original Ghost in the Shell movie.

Far too deep for a casual viewing

Intensely deep and introspective, to the point of the characters pondering becoming navel-gazing for the sake of it. Gorgeous to watch, occasionally very difficult to follow, leading to mild frustration and eventually the lack of connection with the characters.

the film is a fantastic example of animation, but doesn't have the same grip that the original did. The storyline is overly convulated and you get the feeling that the scriptwriter was exceedingly impressed with himself.

Verdict? Could do better.

beautiful but shallow

I really wanted to like this and as someone who loves animation, this movie looks incredible. The drawn characters are full of life and vigour and the CG components combine well.

What I felt let this movie down was a lack of plot and scarcity of supporting characters.

Compared to the first movie (and even compared to Blade Runner which the director states is the inspiration) the world of GITC2 feels empty of a population. None of the places they visit feel populated, although the scenery suggests locations worn through use.

The plot is present, but with a pair of protagonists who barely speak and a path of investigation that seems to happen mostly in the characters heads, it is hard to see why the set of action and stylistic set-pieces fit together.

Worth seeing if you're a fan of animated films but not one to convert newcomers.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Disappointing

I didn't enjoy the film this time. They all seem so much the same nowadays, Manga films. I found it dreary, dark, and rather short. I like my films to be an hour and a half at least -- although I prefer more epic lengths like Lord of the rings etc. :)

Visually impressive but rambling

This films seems to suffer from the same plight as the Stand Alone Complex series; an interesting, philosophical story but most of it is presented in rambling monologues from the lead characters. It was easily forgivable in the series as these only occurred once or twice an episode but there's several during this film and they become dull, fast. On the plus side the visuals are amazing, from the environments to the characters and fight scenes.

This is a must for fans, with some nice references back to the original film, but casual viewers may be left cold.

a CGI masterpiece but wheres the excellent narative of the first....

a tech masterpiece thats for sure, and a welcome revisit to feature length GITS but the story is hard to follow, sometimes boring and relys in the viewer to be versed in many schools of thoughts in philosophy to make any kind of sense.

yes thse first one was similar and did require a thinking mind to get the best of the story but it had much more, this didnt.... maybe GITS just isnt without the central charactre of motoko kusanagi..

ultimately watch it make up your own mind but you will need to watch it twice before you understand any of it i think....