Ghost in the Shell (2017) - Review Thread

I'm....disappointed. I'm working a full write up now.


They had a decent framework set up, and they didn't understand how to execute it. This isn't the Major I know. So many feelings....

A lot of people are jumping on the 'whitewashing' train saying that the film was rejected because people took a stand and spoke with their wallets saying they don't want to see white people in Asian roles. While I can understand the sentiment I don't think that's really the case. I think it's less of America standing up and with one voice shouting 'we demand Asian American actors in live action anime remakes' and more of America standing up and with one voice shouting 'what the hell is Ghost in the Shell and why was the trailer so crappy and we don't even know what it's about and it just looks really weird and we'd rather go see Beauty and the Beast or the new animated movie.'

For the record, though I thought it was a huge missed opportunity in regards to casting, my complaints have little to do with white-washing.

It's not the only box office bomb. Power Rangers isn't doing too hot either. The only for sure success for March were Kong and Beauty and the Beast.

Power Rangers is doing about what they expected. Logan did great. The box office has been very healthy so far this year. There are always bombs but GitS is certainly the biggest yet.

There are literally entire conventions in North America based around anime. Comparing our country to the popularity in Japan is ridiculous and even more so when compared to animation made here. That's like trying to gauge the interest in Mickey Mouse relative to Naruto in Japan.

There are definitely fans, as a guy who worked at Best Buy for 3 years I'll tell you that few if any genres have fans as rabid as anime.  Your average American theater goer on the other hand I would wager isn't much of a fan and the previews and reviews did little to get those who aren't fans into the seats.

They tried to stitch two arcs together and did no service to either of them. Everything that made the manga, movie and show complex got whittled down to a single layered (and predictable) conspiracy. It's not the anime's fault the writers decided the material was to "complex" for the mass market. Or they weren't talented enough to make it work better.

And that being the case, maybe it's not a thing that should be remade then.

I'm not disagreeing with anything your saying. In fact GitH was the first anime film I ever watched and completely fell in love with it. I started watching a lot more animes after that. I tried showing my friends GitS when I was in my teens, but they were bored and said "the Matrix did it better." 

My only point is they are not big box office draws in the U.S. because of this it would have been safe to make the entire film Japanese like the anime. In the West were just not going to get the general audience to jump on Anime for whatever reason. 

I don't think any Anime live action film, no matter how faithful or good will be a hit.

If it does, I will eat my words and say I'm wrong. I just don't think I am.

Yeah, the 3D was surprisingly good. I don't know if it was shot on 3D or it was post-conversion (do they still do that???) but it turned out really good.

That applies to all anime characters - except for Brock on Pokemon. That motherfucker is the most Asian character to ever appear in a cartoon. Even racist stereotype characters from WWII propaganda cartoons were less Asian.

College feminists don't reflect the world. Women chose Bad Mom's. $113 million domestically. $15 million less and without the aid of 3D and a PG rating. You also have to factor in Star Trek Beyond which was released a week later and grossed $30 million more and had an ass-kicking woman in one of the leading roles. Ghostbusters alienated the original fanbase, didn't target males and the only females interested were in the 18-22 age group.

Ghost in the Shell flopped because it was released on week 3 of Beauty and the Beast, which is on track for a billion dollars worldwide, and opposite The Boss Baby. Family audiences weren't gonna watch this movie. Boys and teenage males still have Power Rangers which isn't doing terrible. $64 million in two weeks.



The Great Wall did okay internationally. $285 million. $170 million of that from China. It just wasn't released well or marketed well in America. Came out while Lego Batman, Fifty Shades and John Wick 2 were still dominating.