Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain

For fans of the original film and the 2004 follow-up Innocence, this will be both impressive and disappointing. It seems to be intended as the first part of a TV series rather than a film, so it feels abrupt and under-developed. I may be biased as someone who deeply appreciates robot sci-fi stories but also has high expectations for them.

For first time viewers of any Ghost in the Shell animation, this may be as mind-opening and impressive as the other 2, although the animation style reverts to the original and may seem a little old to people used to more recent animation/cartoon advances. The essence of the science-fiction story remains, with some more modern realism thrown in to keep the story relevant.

The makers should either rebuild and expand this into a proper film or follow-up with another short film that fills in the gaps and then combine the 2. It would be sad to see a great film series like this turn into half-developed TV melodrama.

Positive:

• action
• Logicoma is cute & weird
• interesting plot: effects of technology (hacking, cyber terrorism)

Negative:

• confusing (storywise no prior knowledge required, but also no introduction to the Ghost in the Shell Universe)
• characters are neglected
• unnecessarily complex story
• visually very reduced / poorly detailed and somewhat cheap
• meaningless music
• playing time / substance of the story (could have been reduced to half the time)

This was some bull crap. This movie was almost nothing like the original ghost in the shell. For what ever reason there is an unexplained conflict between two characters that is in no way explained what so ever.this was so bland that I found my self falling asleep. The entire plot is freaking confusing. I don't even why some of the stuff in the film is happening. There is so many freaking cliff hanger that I lost count. This was a very poor attempt to revive ghost in the shell. Watch this crap if your curious. The animation was new but the constant cameos of Microsoft tablets were annoying considering this is a Prequel and that the original ghost in the shell did not have smartphones or tablets because during that era, they did not exist

I live and breathe Ghost in the Shell. Cliché expression I know, but I've no other way to explain my fascination with both the Manga and the Anime adaptations. So naturally, at the mention of a new franchise,a prequel no less, I leaped at the opportunity to see it, only to reel backwards at the result.

Now, don't get me wrong. For a TV series, the animation is beyond fantastic, and the colors especially are very well detailed. The use of darkness, alongside the foreboding shadowy atmosphere works really well at developing an alternate flavor to the preexisting franchise. The action scenes are very entertaining, and the accompanying musical score really helps to set the mood, settling you into a time of adept digital technology.

The vulnerability we witness in heroine, Major Motoko Kusangi, is something we have not encountered before, and really helps in not only sympathizing with her character, but in realizing that she is a younger, less powerful individual than we have previously encountered. Despite this, she continues to display the same level of determination, authority and compassion we have previously had the pleasure of viewing.

Although I questioned why Motoko was not of a lesser rank during this feature (in Shirow Masamune's original manga, Ghost in the Shell, it was mentioned she was once a Lieutenant), this question was made irrelevant by the sheer lengths Motoko was willing to go to find the truth about what happened to her superior, Lieutenant Colonel Mamuro, which brilliantly convinces us how much this man meant to her.

The inclusion of the Logicoma (the younger version of the Tachikoma) is additionally fun to watch, although our four legged friend perhaps deserved some further screen time, which is certainly made up for during the sequel, Ghost Whispers.

Furthermore, the story is filled with a great depth of intrigue that is fabulously built up, in which the creators feed us only slips of information as we attempt to solve the puzzle, having to wait until the final moments to successfully unravel the truth.

There is perhaps more of the story that could have been fleshed out, and additional background provided to characters, with Motoko been the primary focus of this episode, however this is not the reason behind why I felt disappointment with this feature. Despite the addendum that Motoko looks nothing like she has formerly, with a completely different hairdo, physique, outfit and voice, this I was willing to overlook in order to simply enjoy the episode.

Ghost Pain explores the back-story of not only Section 9, and how it began to be formed, but how the Major came to become fully cyborg. This endeavor is quite ambitious, and would have worked perfectly, if the feature had not decided to reinvent everything.

During Masamune's manga, Ghost in the Shell 2 Man-Machine Interface, Motoko reveals she underwent the procedure to become completely cyborg when she was just a child. In the first season of Stand Alone Complex (SAC), Kenji Kamiyama reveals the Major was 6 years of age when she experienced the surgery that transformed her into a cyborg, which is further detailed in SAC 2nd Gig, where the audience discovers Motoko suffered a massive ordeal, her human body been irreparably damaged, therefore requiring her mind to be transferred to that of a cyborg replacement. Moreover, the back-story regarding how Paz joined Section 9 (which was explored during SAC 2nd Gig) is also changed. Long story short, none of these are taken into account, this prequel subsequently telling a completely different and contradictory storyline, that long time fans of the series might have difficulty digesting.

If this is not enough, during the special features, located on the Ghost Whispers disc (the sequel to Ghost Pain), the director of both episodes notes how he has forgotten if Motoko's back-story was developed during SAC. If the man directing the project apparently hasn't done his research, and the same can probably be said for the writers, hence the lacking connection between this series and the previous, how are we, the audience, supposed to trust these developers with the continuation of a much loved franchise?

As a stand alone feature, Ghost Pain is an interesting edition to the series. When in contrast with what has come before, I personally think the creators should have done their homework. In watching the feature, it is obvious one of the driving influences was to reveal Motoko's humanity, a factor that could have been equally attempted if the writers had taken the time to view what had come before. If those at the helm of the project are willing to create a show that changes all that we have learned about Motoko's background, should we be willing to participate?

Now If I am honest I went into this movie a bit sceptically due to the looks of the trailers. But upon pressing play I found the new visual design to be of little consequence and very soon I settled down to what I hoped would be an enjoyable watch. So where did it all go wrong! Well not graphically! I can tell you, graphic quality is not an issue in this production. In fact this is very much a spectacle rich movie in line with western blockbusters as far as that goes, but just like western blockbusters the brains have left the building! It's all flash and no bang, the plot is both boring and stupid, the pacing of the non action moments are so poor you find yourself drifting and thinking about shopping lists and laundry! The things that made GITS so special above its setting its look and even its main characters, was it depth and intelligence! You will find little of either in this film. It is not bad, it is just no where near a 7 out of 10. It is a mediocre 5, watch it and forget it.