Reviewed by: James Zhang
Ratings:
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Science-Fiction
Year: 1995
Series Length: Movie

It is umpteen years into the future and it has become common practice to replace human body parts with robotic components and enhancements.

Major Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9 (or some such organization) is almost entirely cyborg, and she questions her existence while punching up punks and blowing things up, for a woman has her job to do even while probing the deepest realms of existentialism.

This is an era where brains can function like computers and can be hacked into and reprogrammed – in such an instance, when does a human soul (known as 'ghost') become a computer soul? Can a computer program that becomes self-aware be identified as a life form? And with the advent of internet and networking technology, are there any limits to how interconnected one's soul can be with everything else? I'll leave these ponderings up to the viewer, but this movie is definitely worth checking out just to see what this is all about.

Ghost in the Shell is generally regarded as inspiration for The Matrix, and both share the common elements of mixing abstract philosophy that can drive you around in circles with (seemingly unrelated) guns a' blazing action sequences and jaw-dropping special effects.

Whether seen as pseudo-scientific sophistry* masked by eye candy or a serious attempt to define issues of existence, this formula obviously works well.

* I saw this phrase used by Richard Trott in his 1994 article Lying for Jesus.

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