Sometime last year, I watched Ghost in the Shell for the first time. I haven’t actually seen it again, but I remember that it was impressive, dark, and intelligent. My flawed memory doesn’t allow me to remember things in much more detail than that – sorry.:-)
Last night, I fired up Innocence, the sequel of sorts. The Major is now in cyberspace, Batou is his usual impassive self, and “gynoids” are running around killing people.
Having seen the reviews at Amazon, I wasn’t expecting much. The movie seems to have been roundly trashed, except for general agreement that it’s beautiful.
And is it. I found myself almost breathtaken at one sequence after another. I would give an arm and a leg to be able to produce something so visually stunning. If you are one of those people who refuse to watch anime because you think it’s “cartoony,” you’re truly missing out. Sequences to watch for:
- The opening “birth” sequence
- The ghost hack at the drugstore
- The “fly-by tour” of the information city
- The parade scene
- Kim’s mansion
And the storyline is great. For those people whose heads it flew over, get over it. If you like some thought and some depth to your stories, rather than having things spoon-fed to you, you’ll enjoy this. Lots of banter in the form of quotes, and some thoughtful exploration of human nature using both dialogue and great juxtaposition of imagery.
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone. Gets a 9/10 on my rating scale.:-)