Like an Elephant in the Forest

(Review is Spoiler Free!)

The original Ghost in the Shell movie was one of the first DVDs I bought when I started collecting anime, and its moody settings, violent action, and philosophical meanderings made quite an impression on me. Thus, I was more than a little curious about this movie when I first heard of it. This second film both does and does not pick up right where the first one left off. On one hand, all of the characters  are unchanged  from first movie. They look the same, have the same voice actors, and pretty much the same jobs.

On the other hand, the art direction of the movie is completely different. In the intervening years between the first movie and this one, CG graphics have advanced to the point where Ghost in the Shell 2 has dispensed with hand-drawn backgrounds entirely. However, the real change between the two movies is in the visual style of the setting. This movie has retro-art deco styling everywhere, most especially in the cars. I honestly could not place any location in the second movie into the first, and vise versa. This had a very disorienting effect for me...I recognized the players and the events, but it was as if they were taking place in a different universe.

The events of this movie take place shortly after the events of the first, and once again revolve around a mystery involving highly advanced robots. Also like the original, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence contains a healthy dose of philosophical pondering over exactly what makes someone human. However, I felt like the emphasis of this second movie tended to shift more towards the sleuthing end of the spectrum than the first one.  One other stylistic note is that this movie is considerably more sanitary than the first one, undoubtedly out of consideration for a PG-13 rating. There is altogether less blood, violence, and nudity this time around (which is either good or bad, depending on your tastes).

Overall, I feel like the first movie was a better story and a more coherent universe. That being said,  I found this movie to be very interesting and a worthy revisiting of the Ghost in the Shell universe. Just like the first one, I think I will have to view this show multiple times in order to understand it better.  I definitely will be picking this one up on DVD when it is released.

By Andy Rucker