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review on GITS2: Innocence

sequel to the first Ghost In The Shell (1995), which is said had influenced many film makers (Cameron, Tarantino, Warchowski brothers), this film is similar to the first in that it is loosely based on Shirow Masamune's manga of the same title. the director, Mamoru Oshii, was given freedom by Shirow Masamune to tell the story & though it doesn't follow the manga faithfully, the message remains to be the same; how relevant is humanity now in the world of technology?

storyline: though plots & storyline are taken from the manga, they are taken apart to be assembled in different chronology. one may have to read the manga & watch the films to appreciate the differences. both are delightful & intellectual; manga for having 'breaks' & funny moments between action & tension, film for being delightfully grim (which is a rarity). the film is dialogue-heavy, with many quotes from bible, descartes, milton, grimm, confucius. personally i believe this movie though visually & aurally cinematic, it's meant for repeated viewing, therefore DVD, as it is hard to absorb all the essence of the dialogues in one sitting. well i should speak for myself. & a warning to those who are used to be led on easy paths of storylines & plots(hollywood fare, that is), this film isn't for u.

visuals: simply amazing. production IG & the director worked on the film for 4 years & it shows how much detail is put into the film. many times the visuals speak volumes on what is going on in the film & not just being eye-candy, though i'm sure there are those who beg to differ. characters are very believable (speech, movement, facial expression). festival scene is especially breathtaking.

sound: this one takes the cake. the best aspect of the film is the incredible soundscape & even more incredible music. no longer music being part of the background, kenji kawai (the composer) re-created the music of the first film & made the once sparse haunting music into crescending movement. watch out for scenes of drive-bys(vehicle) & fly-bys(birds). attention paid to sound is incredible.

overall, this film is made in such a way that it isn't easily accessible & many who expect simplicity (due to the film being animated & based on manga, with distorted perspective on anime) will be disappointed & will criticise that the film (or the director) is trying to be smart & therefore pretensious. i have to say this is hardly an action film. it is a philosophical film that happens to have action scenes in it. it isn't a film that offers answers on humanity, rather throws questions at viewers; begging them to think what value does humanity have in today's world.

i admit that i'm being very partial in my views & therefore feeling great about it. i love this film & i hope u do too. enjoy!