Kôkaku Kidôtai (1995)

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1. 

   Paravail

   I was underwhelmed. The visuals are great, but that's not enough to make a movie good. The film is surprisingly short: less than an hour and half, and I feel that was a major reason I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. The characters are interesting and the philosophical ideas are nice, and the few action set pieces (this movie had less action than I was expected) were memorable, but everything is so damned perfunctory. The philosophical ideas take center stage, but with such a short run time its difficult for them to rise above what you'd get in a freshman-level philosophy lecture. The characters barely had any time to express themselves or interact with each other, so they come across as shallow, and almost no time is given for world building. The audience is thrown into this sprawling sci-fi dystopia and before they know which way is up the plot and theme come hammering down. When the movie ended I had major feeling of "that's it?" I'm sure things are expanded upon in the sequels and manga, but good movies have to stand on their own, and this offered much less I than expected, especially since it's considered a classic of the anime genre. 6 years 9 months ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   I remember when Ghost in the Shell came out in 1995, it was sold as the next Akira. I didn't see it then because I'd also heard I shouldn't believe the hype. Real late to the party here, but I think both statements are true. On the one hand, it has that level of technical mastery, though laden with primitive CG animation (still turns out well), and while people always praise the animation on these things, I want to give a shout-out to the background artists because that stuff is just as amazing. There's also some great sound design. And like Akira, the story can be a bit obtuse. That's where the hype stops being true. I find the philosophysing on the nature of identity delivered in the most boring terms and tones imaginable. The story just stops so characters can deliver speeches. No, not speeches, TEXT. Don't get me wrong. It understands that cyberpunk has an important existential component. I just wish it were less on the nose about discussing that angst, as the visuals tell a better story than the dialog does. 4 years 9 months ago
3. 

   brian_fuller

   I think probably I saw this movie 20 years too late. Though its level of visual detail is admittedly stunning, the existential questions posed by Kôkaku Kidôtai have since been more stylishly asked (and occasionally answered) by films like Ex Machina and innovations like IBM's Watson or Apple's Siri. I wonder whether the evil machinations of governments and corporations can seem novel after Coppola's The Conversation or regular doses of The X-Files. 8 years 7 months ago

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