Ghost In The Shell: The New Movie (2015)

In the year 2027, a year following the end of the non-nuclear World War IV, a bomb has gone off in Newport City, killing a major arms dealer who may have ties with the mysterious 501 ... See full summary »

Directors: Kazuchika Kise, Kazuya Nomura

Writers: Masamune Shirow (manga), Tow Ubukata (screenplay)

Stars: Maaya Sakamoto, Ken'ichirô Matsuda, Ikkyu Juku | See full cast and crew » 

Storyline :

In the year 2027, a year following the end of the non-nuclear World War IV, a bomb has gone off in Newport City, killing a major arms dealer who may have ties with the mysterious 501 Organization. Public Security official Daisuke Aramaki hires full-body cyber prosthesis user and hacker extraordinaire, Motoko Kusanagi, to investigate.

User Reviews :

 The magic is not quite there
7 November 2015 | by siderite (Romania) – See all my reviews

I love Ghost in the Shell. The original movie was great, the series were a bit different, but still making the viewer think about the nature of self and the direction technology takes us in. All of that was enabled by great stories and wonderful music.
While "The New Movie" is a good piece of animation and with an interesting story, it doesn't quite catch the magic of the original. Also, as a continuation of the GitS:Arise four episode series, it makes it difficult for newcomers to understand what it is all about. But probably what bothered me most was the soundscape. While not bad, it is a far cry from Kenji Kawai's work.

** Ghost In The Shell: The New Movie official Trailer (2015) **

Perhaps the problem is that, in attempting to reboot the franchise, they went too soft. Less blood, less killing, less subtlety and instead just a modernized corporate Yakuza fight that is easy to understand from the perspective of the Japanese viewer. Ghost in the Shell was never about the present, though, it was about the future, its role to make the viewer think things forward and see the predictions of the anime come true in the years to come. "The New Movie" doesn't quite do that and so I feel a slight disappointment with it.

Still, a flawed GitS movie is a lot better than no GitS movie and I was glad to watch it. The excitement of the original, though, I didn't find it here.