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Mulan
(2020)
3.25/5

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man (2005) - First Time on Tubi
As someone who's enjoyed every piece of the Ghost in the Shell franchise that he's seen--from the original 1995 film to its reviled 2.0 variation to Arise to the much-maligned live-action film released in 2017, I think this is a solid entry. It's a significant abridgment of the 26-episode first season of Stand Alone Complex, which I still need to go and watch, but it seems that a majority of the most important story beats have made the cut, unsurprising since Stand Alone Complex creator Kenji Kamiyama was the one who decided what to cut and what to keep. It might still seem a bit long at 160 minutes long, but I doubt Kamiyama could cut any more and have a coherent film. The story is solid, featuring plenty of quotes from classic literature as one would expect from Ghost in the Shell, the animation is stunning--though the decision to crop the footage from 1.78:1 to 1.85:1 is a bit puzzling--as you'd expect from Ghost in the Shell, and Yoko Kanno's excellent musical score lives up to her usual standards. The English dub is also of a high standard even though the cast is a bit different from those most associated with Ghost in the Shell and completely different from the cast of the Stand Alone Complex series. While she's not Mimi Woods, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, or Elizabeth Maxwell, Alison Matthews matches all of them beat for beat as Major Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist of most Ghost in the Shell media. While not Richard Epcar or Chris Sabat, Sesshomaru himself David Kaye is equally impressive as Batou, the member of Kusanagi's team who works closest with her. While not Christopher Joyce, Crispin Freeman, or Alex Organ, Trevor Devall is also solid as Togusa, the member of Major's team who is a family man with no cyberization--usually a given in the Ghost in the Shell universe--aside from a cyberbrain. While not William Frederick Knight or John Swasey, Russell Roberts is also excellent as Chief Daisuke Aramaki who Major and her team take their orders from. While he's no Steve Blum, Michael Adamthwaite is appropriately mysterious and threatening as the Laughing Man of the title. Everyone else is also solid and the dub script is completely natural.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Individual Eleven (2006) - First Time on Tubi
This abridgment of the second season of Stand Alone Complex is of much the same quality as The Laughing Man--though one shouldn't expect too many quotes from classic literature here. The story is solid, and while the concerns about its length remain, again, Kamiyama really couldn't remove much more and have a coherent film come out of it. The animation is stunning, though the decision to crop it is no less puzzling. Kanno once again does the musical score with excellent results. The dub is once again of a high standard, with Matthews, Kaye, Devall, and Robert returning as the same characters they voiced in The Laughing Man. While he's no Kirk Thornton, John Murphy is appropriately mysterious and menacing as Hideo Kuze, a man with a seemingly indestructible prosthetic body who is supposedly the sole survivor of the group suicide of a terrorist group known as the Individual Eleven and the dub script is completely natural.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) - First Time on Funimation
I'd been meaning to get around to this one for a while, but I never got to until fairly recently. I finally did and it was well worth the watch. As Mamoru Oshii's sequel to his 1995 film, Innocence, perhaps surprisingly, expands on the first film's lore and the world it creates while being almost completely its own, though it's a good idea to have already seen the original film for obvious reasons. As such, it recycles few, if any, story beats from the original film, unless you count the references to classic literature such as the Bible and Descartes. In addition to directing this sequel, Oshii also takes over the screenwriting duties from Kazunori Ito who co-wrote Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind with the legendary Hayao Miyazaki prior to the original film and he didn't do half-bad if we're being honest, the franchise's unusual view of the human condition still near the forefront as the question of whether what Locus-Solus does is right or wrong permeates the film. The animation is stunning, which is unsurprising since quite a few people from Studio Ghibli were part of it. Innocence is probably infamous for being relentlessly dark, but it's a perfect fit for the film's somewhat melancholic tone and the world it creates, and the 3D animation used at certain points enhances rather than denigrates the film. Kenji Kawai also returns to the sequel with an excellent musical score. Kawai doesn't recycle a whole lot of musical elements from the original, but fans of the original who haven't seen this outing should watch out for a version of Floating Museum with new chants that appears during the film's endgame. Bandai Visual has provided an excellent English dub, which is actually the second dub Innocence has had since Manga UK dubbed it in 2005 while Bandai Visual redubbed it in 2009. Interestingly enough, both dubs have much of the same cast. Since Funimation has only included the Bandai Visual dub, that's the one I'll focus on here. Richard Epcar is excellent as Batou, reprising his role from the original film. Crispin Freeman is equally impressive as Togusa, who has become Batou's partner in the Major's absence. In the brief intervals when he appears, William Frederick Knight is rock-solid as Chief Aramaki. Watch out for Mori-senpai himself Travis Willingham as Kim, a completely insane man who decided it was better to become a doll and causes Batou to utter what is arguably the film's most thought-provoking line in, "What's the point of being a ghostless doll?" Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is also excellent as the Major in a few spots throughout the film where she appears in random ways. Everyone else, including the likes of Barbara Goodson, Steve Kramer, Sandy Fox, (Hey, there's two VAs from the Streamline dub of Akira and one from the Pioneer dub in this one dub!) and Laura Bailey, are also good, and the dub script is completely natural. All in all, if you want my honest opinion, Innocence can definitely hold its head up high next to the original and I can see myself returning to it many times in the future. Later, y'all.