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Ghost in the Shell 2 - Innocence by Mamoru Oshii
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Akio Ohtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Kôichi Yamadera, Tamio Ôki, Yutaka Nakano Director: Mamoru Oshii Brand: Paramount Cinematographer: Miki Sakuma Writer: Mamoru Oshii Producer: Maki Terashima-Furuta Producer: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa Producer: Ryuji Mitsumoto Producer: Toshio Suzuki Writer: Masamune Shirow DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: Japanese (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 100 minutes Published: 2004-12-01 DVD Release Date: 2004-12-28 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Dreamworks Video
Movie Reviews of Ghost in the Shell 2 - InnocenceMovie Review: "Who can gaze into a mirror without becoming evil?" Summary: 5 Stars
This may be hard to believe, but I can think of no anime/CGI film I've seen since Ghost in the Shell that has anything like the impact of Innoncence. This is certainly one of the best of its kind. Unfortunately, lacking the sexiness and high energy of Ghost, it has gone largely unnoticed. I can only point out that the deep layering of not only the visual work, but music, dialog, and plot, demonstrate an almost infinite level of detail. In many ways, this reflexion is what Mamoru Oshii was striving for - a film that challenges not only the viewer's definition of reality, but stretches the meaning of human beyond all comfortable boundaries.
Three years have passed since Major Motoko Kusanagi entered the Net, leaving Batou, her partner, alone in a world where few have the mental cognates to understand what life as a 'ghost' really means. A series of horrific killings spread across Tokyo. Violent, arbitrary slayings by a new series of 'dolls' - robot toys for men. Aramaki assigns Batou and Togusa to the investigation as partners. Togusa is uncomfortable in this role because he is a full human. 'I have a daughter back at home,' he says.
The story ranges from bloody crime scenes to a Yakuza showdown as Batou allows himself to be hunted in an effort to find the threads of the crime. Lurking in the shadows are the manufacturers of the dolls, but Togusa and Batou must visit an eerie city that resembles a Hong Kong straight out of Bladerunner and a trip to a hacker's mansion where death, rebirth, and illusion are the stock in trade. In the end it is not clear if they are searching for proof or for a deeper truth.
The artwork and animation are so brilliant, and one can miss the a level of dialog where quotations from the Bible, Milton, and Japanese philosophers are commonplace, and Batou's interrogations are essays in the real subjects of the film. The problem with dolls is not that, unlike the life they reflect, they can reach perfection. The only thing that might spoil their mechanical grace and attention is the injection of a human consciousness. Dolls, dogs, and children, director Oshii suggests, are our toys - made to imitate what we like best in ourselves.
This is a dark film. It frightens because the acts that open the layers if the case are unbound by human considerations. Even when the motivations are good. When Kusanagi's consciousness makes its appearances she can only offer Batou hope if he is willing to leave his human framework behind. Only then can she be with him.
Available only as subtitled Japanese, with a brilliant 'making of' and a full length commentary by Oshii as extras, this is still a DVD you will want to own. Wherever you look there is more to seen, a brilliant script with interlocking references, and music that is a further refinement of what was done in Ghost in the Shell. The more you watch it, the better it gets.
Summary of Ghost in the Shell 2 - InnocenceStudio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Run time: 100 minutes Rating: Pg13
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