← Back to Reviews
in
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence -
While not the classic the first movie is, the sequel is still a worthy follow-up. A tale that is as much about feminism as it is transhumanism, it follows lone wolf and dog lover Batou and fabulously coiffed family man Togusa as they find out why a line of mechanical geishas are killing their owners. Their investigation culminates in a showdown at the headquarters of Locus Solus, the geishas' manufacturer, which is so trippy and mind-bending that I honestly thought something was wrong with my disc. This might just be a way of saying that I really enjoyed it, but this sequence could have lasted a bit longer and had more room to breathe. Also, even though the philosophical discussion is one of my favorite things about Ghost in the Shell, some conversations border on parody in that they’re just series of trading quotations. The movie still has the trademarks of the anime franchise that made it one of my favorites, i.e. exciting action, though-provoking debate and spectacular visuals, the latter of which combines CGI and hand-drawn animation and looks so good that the movie might as well have come out this year rather than 2004.
While not the classic the first movie is, the sequel is still a worthy follow-up. A tale that is as much about feminism as it is transhumanism, it follows lone wolf and dog lover Batou and fabulously coiffed family man Togusa as they find out why a line of mechanical geishas are killing their owners. Their investigation culminates in a showdown at the headquarters of Locus Solus, the geishas' manufacturer, which is so trippy and mind-bending that I honestly thought something was wrong with my disc. This might just be a way of saying that I really enjoyed it, but this sequence could have lasted a bit longer and had more room to breathe. Also, even though the philosophical discussion is one of my favorite things about Ghost in the Shell, some conversations border on parody in that they’re just series of trading quotations. The movie still has the trademarks of the anime franchise that made it one of my favorites, i.e. exciting action, though-provoking debate and spectacular visuals, the latter of which combines CGI and hand-drawn animation and looks so good that the movie might as well have come out this year rather than 2004.