The problem with Ghost In A Shell goes beyond whitewashing and the issue with the main character not being completely true to the original story.
Directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Scarlett Johansson and Juliette Binoche, the movie which is based on the popular Japanese manga story has some moving moments and a handful of satisfying action sequences. Nevertheless, the execution of the story just wasn’t great. I didn’t consistently feel present and invested in the protagonist’s struggle because of the way the story was told / edited.
Major’s (Johansson) response to the words ‘You’re what everyone will become one day’ along with her physical sacrifice towards the end were the most moving moments , for me. I will remember this movie probably mostly as a missed opportunity but also as a film where I enjoyed Juliette Binoche’s performance and loved the way Michael Pitt’s character / face was introduced. Last but not least it was certainly empowering to witness Major’s ‘get it done’ attitude in action.
In Ghost In A Shell, Scarlett Johansson is a cyborg Police woman on a mission to bring down an evil computer hacker. Juliette Binoche and Michael Pitt also star while Rupert Sanders directs…
I know next to nothing about the stories on which this movie is based. That’s ok by me because film is my medium. I want this to be a great movie and much better than Lucy (2014), the last action movie I saw that starred Johansson.
The 33 (2015), Lou Diamond Phillips, Antonio Banderas
Around the time the Chilean mining accident took place in 2010, I learned only the basics of what happened; namely the number of men trapped and the fact that fortunately, against the odds, they all made it out alive.
Starring Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Mario Casas, Gabriel Byrne and Rodrigo Santoro, The 33 is the story of the 33 men, those who helped get them out and their experience of the day of the accident through to the rescue.
Directed by Patricia Riggen, The 33 had me thinking about how much people really need each other to make it through. The survival of all the 33 took a lot of different decisions and actions both big and small, by the men trapped deep underground and people outside.
The 33 (2015), Juliette Binoche
The movie is just over two hours and it did feel a little long at one point but that was likely more about myself along with probably a lot of the audience wanting and willing the suffering of the men to end already. We all knew that all would be well in the end, of course, whereas the 33 men had no idea.
Would I have watched this movieif the ending wasn’t as happy? Probably not because that would likely make it a horror movie and I’m not really partial to those. The story I did watch is well told and it’s about what it can take to survive when the odds are against you.
One thing you’ll certainly notice as you watch this movie is how good the music is. The man responsible is the unfortunately late, great James Horner, the composer better known for his work on James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009). May he rest in Peace.
The Movie My Life 