L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2004 7:00 pm
"Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" is your basic philosophic inquiry into the nature of the soul set inside your basic sci-fi cop buddy movie done in Japanese anime.
If that sounds complicated, it's because director Mamoru Oshii takes on some serious challenges with the sequel to his 1995 picture and pretty well pulls them off.
The good news is, you don't have to have seen "Ghost in the Shell" to follow the follow-up.
Set in a "Blade Runner"-like future, the film, based on comic books by Shirow Masasume, posits three types of "beings" who live in Tokyo circa 2030 humans, cyborgs (part human/part machine) and "dolls," soulless machines manufactured for pleasure or for the service industries.
When "gynoids," a type of pleasure doll, start murdering their masters, cyborg detective Batou (voice of Akio Otsuka) and his human partner Tosuga (Koichi Yamadera) are assigned to the case. Their investigation first runs them into the heart of the Tokyo mob but eventually takes them to the outlands, where the dolls are manufactured and the secret to their existence and rebellion is hidden.
That's a pretty standard plot, which is a good thing because it makes the narrative of "Ghost in the Shell 2" relatively easy to follow. The same can't be said for its philosophical wanderings into the nature of humanity and emotional attachment as well as the role of the machine in society.
That's a little much for a movie to take on. But good science fiction and this is good science fiction is always really about today's world, not the future. The ideas Oshii raises are important and well worth an inevitable postscreening discussion, if too much for a short review to fully take on.
It is worth noting that the humans aren't entirely human they can plug into the cyberspace net that surrounds the world and the cyborgs are not entirely machine.
o the difference between the two blurs Batou has a basset hound he truly loves making obvious the movie's point about what it means to be human and responsible.
But even with its philosophical bent, "Ghost in the Shell 2" works as an adventure film, albeit one that twists back on itself a couple of times. Here it's important to know that Maj. Motoko Kusangi, Batou's former cyborg partner, has given up her cyborg "shell" to become part of the cyberspace consciousness.
The real reason most will turn out to see "Ghost in the Shell 2" isn't the philosophy or the plot. It's the Japanese form of animation known as anime. Oshii does it very well, even when the traditional flat animation is mixed with computer-generated elements designed to add depth to the imagery, whether it is a long view of the futuristic city or a claustrophobic alley where Batou plays shoot-'em-up.
I rarely watch movies more than once, but I had the opportunity to see "Ghost in the Shell 2" twice, and I'm glad I did. The film was far more rewarding on the second viewing. The details of the plot fell together more convincingly, the philosophy made more sense, and the anime was even more impressive.
For anime fans, "Ghost in the Shell 2" is a must-see a rare opportunity to see the work on a big screen rather than on the tube at home. For those who haven't yet seen anime, you won't get a better introduction than Oshii's film, and you'll get some thought-provoking philosophy, too.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
***½
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Stars: Voices of Akio Ohtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Yutaka Nakano
Rated: PG-13 (for violence, disturbing images and language)
Now Showing: Ross
The Reel Story: This excellent Japanese anime film is a futuristic sci-fi cop buddy movie that's really a philosophic examination of what it means to be human.