Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
dir. Oshii
Opens Fri Oct 1
Cinema 21
Pokemaniacs aside, fans of Japanese animation are often a demanding bunch–insisting that their idols dabble in enough philosophy to stimulate the high-minded, while also measuring out enough boom-boom to tide over the action junkies. Innocence, the long-awaited sequel to 1995’s seminal Ghost in the Shell, proves just how difficult a successful mix between spectacle and introspection can be.
Set in 2032, the film closely follows the standard anime template: while reeling from the mysterious disappearance of his former partner (the heroine of the first installment, about which full knowledge is assumed), hulking cyborg cop Bateau faces off against a wave of murderous sexbots bent on destroying their masters. The high-minded/visually astonishing results? Skulls and minds get blown apart, in equal measures.
First, the good news: this may possibly be the best-looking anime film to date. From frame one, Innocence delivers a gorgeous cross between computer-animated backgrounds and old-fashioned 2-D characters; these visuals, combined with Kenji Kawai’s magnificent score, are so stunning that the frequent money shots feel less like showing off and more like a well-deserved victory lap. Stand down, Akira–a new benchmark has been achieved.
More’s the pity, then, that writer/director Mamoru Oshii allows the plot to be overwhelmed by a slew of cockamamie musings on the nature of existence that wouldn’t float in a late-night dorm room smokeout. Oshii seems determined to rely on footnotes to make his point; a character will recite a nugget of Confucius, to be countered by a snippet of Plato, and so on. (Fully half of the dialogue is delivered in quotation marks; dealing with the subtitles feels like being force-fed pages from Philosophy 101 For Dummies.)
For many, the strength of the images and steady bursts of insanely choreographed violence will win out over the hectoring, lecturing tone. (It’s hard, after all, to remain mad at a film that periodically features cyborgs duking it out with prosthetic lobster claws.) Still, the sense of boundless ambition overwhelming the existing material persists. From the retina out, Innocence is something close to a masterpiece. Between the ears, it’s a different story.