Influential animation director Mamoru Oshii returns with a follow up to the impressive if disjointed Ghost In The Shell, which to be frank is even more impressive and possibly even more disjointed than its predecessor. Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence is a creation of great beauty, intelligent thought that throws up some very interesting, sensible and above all engaging points on which to debate the nature of humanity, what constitutes being human? When are we deemed as being alive? However, for all the reasoned debate Ghost In The Shell 2 unfortunately follows and falls into the trap so many Eastern stories ( in particular many mangas and anime) do, which is an incoherent storyline, which proves the ultimate irony seeing as how this a film which engages your mind, you're forced to switch it off in places and just 'go with the flow'.
Innocence is an extremely visual film, and you will be awed into watching from a seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques which to be frank makes Sky Blue look like the work of a preschooler. It is simply ravishing and you find yourself hooked intently and intensely to what is simply a blisteringly well constructed piece of animation, and is worth a viewing by all fans of the genre on this basis alone. But is that enough?
Well, to be honest, no it is not. As with Sky Blue the animation was painstakingly created over a long period of time, and as with Sky Blue the plot suffered slightly for it. Yes the philosophy is interesting, poignant and it does make you think, this I am not denying, but it's sometimes thrown around complete uncontextualised, just for philosophy's sake. I'm not arguing against the introduction of philosophy and metaphysics into the medium of films, I'm all for it, but when characters are throwing around Descartes name like he's going out of fashion instead of developing what little plot there is within the film, it does tend to lend itself to the criticism that this film is for pubescents coming of age who wish to "expand their minds". Mamoru Oshii is an influential director and his works have always included a degree of philosophy, mostly he tends to tackle the constructs of humanity and reality and the link between the two, can one define another? are the two linked at all? can one survive without the other? However, the original Ghost In The Shell was philosophy crammed, and yes again the story had an air of incoherency about it, but the philosophy was not driving the narrative, the narrative was driving the philosophy, and this is where the sequel fails in its intent.
Ghost In The Shell 2 is indeed impressive, but seeing as it was co-produced at the remarkable Studio Ghibli and was a "selection" for the Cannes film festival you can be forgiven for asking for something with a bit more bite to it. There are a great number of positives to take away from this experience, as the animation is impeccable, it is so sublime, it just makes it so fantastically easy to slip into the world and enjoy the feast, and yes a summary can't be made without a nod in the direction of the thought put into this film. However, If you'll forgive this rather audacious metaphor, think of this film as a sandwich, and all this wonderful philosophy provides the contents, the filler, the real taste to go inside this sandwich. Think of the most ridiculously packed sandwich you could possibly imagine, with everything on it, and then imagine no bread with which to hold it all together.
Innocence is an extremely visual film, and you will be awed into watching from a seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques which to be frank makes Sky Blue look like the work of a preschooler. It is simply ravishing and you find yourself hooked intently and intensely to what is simply a blisteringly well constructed piece of animation, and is worth a viewing by all fans of the genre on this basis alone. But is that enough?
Well, to be honest, no it is not. As with Sky Blue the animation was painstakingly created over a long period of time, and as with Sky Blue the plot suffered slightly for it. Yes the philosophy is interesting, poignant and it does make you think, this I am not denying, but it's sometimes thrown around complete uncontextualised, just for philosophy's sake. I'm not arguing against the introduction of philosophy and metaphysics into the medium of films, I'm all for it, but when characters are throwing around Descartes name like he's going out of fashion instead of developing what little plot there is within the film, it does tend to lend itself to the criticism that this film is for pubescents coming of age who wish to "expand their minds". Mamoru Oshii is an influential director and his works have always included a degree of philosophy, mostly he tends to tackle the constructs of humanity and reality and the link between the two, can one define another? are the two linked at all? can one survive without the other? However, the original Ghost In The Shell was philosophy crammed, and yes again the story had an air of incoherency about it, but the philosophy was not driving the narrative, the narrative was driving the philosophy, and this is where the sequel fails in its intent.
Ghost In The Shell 2 is indeed impressive, but seeing as it was co-produced at the remarkable Studio Ghibli and was a "selection" for the Cannes film festival you can be forgiven for asking for something with a bit more bite to it. There are a great number of positives to take away from this experience, as the animation is impeccable, it is so sublime, it just makes it so fantastically easy to slip into the world and enjoy the feast, and yes a summary can't be made without a nod in the direction of the thought put into this film. However, If you'll forgive this rather audacious metaphor, think of this film as a sandwich, and all this wonderful philosophy provides the contents, the filler, the real taste to go inside this sandwich. Think of the most ridiculously packed sandwich you could possibly imagine, with everything on it, and then imagine no bread with which to hold it all together.