Ghost in the Shell

When you read this review, keep in mind that I had expected Ghost in the Shell to be a solid 10/10, and that it could quite possibly be one of the best movies of this decade. Instead, it's … tepid. I didn't hate it, but it was a bit like a nice, but not great roller-coaster: nice entertainment for the moment, but nothing you write home about.

It has lots of great CGI effects, but the characters are seriously lacking. It's like they didn't want to give the characters any texture or depth because that could detract the viewer from the special effects. I think this is more a question of direction and editing rather than acting.

Typically, I feel I can re-watch a good sci-fi movie a couple times. Whether it's more action like Minority Report or more drama like Interstellar, the rewatchability factor to me is more a question about the feeling I get from watching the movie. Sadly, the rewatchability factor for this movie is basically 0 on my part. In the end, it's like watching a very long movie sequence in a video game - but in a video game, the film sequences are just a small part of the whole experience. And that's how this movie feels in the end: like it is lacking a big part of the experience.