Ghost in the Shell's reviews
Media reviews
Variety
Spectacularly honoring the spirit and aesthetic of Mamoru Oshii?s beloved animated adaptations without resorting wholly to slavish cosplay, this is smart, hard-lacquered entertainment that may just trump the original films for galloping storytelling momentum and sheer, coruscating visual excitement ? even if a measure of their eerie, melancholic spirit hasn?t quite carried over to the immaculate new carapace.
The Telegraph
Directing is Rupert Sanders, who improves massively on his emptily glossy debut Snow White and the Huntsman. His visual assault this time is thrillingly well-organised and 80 per cent dazzling. The only disappointment are the shop-window, fly-by shots pimping out the environment ? they?re overbusy and over-digitised, especially the kitschy holographic landmarks, perched high up in this concentration city, which make the future look like one giant game of Pokémon Go
Indiewire
Johansson sets the level of engagement, playing the impervious shell rather better than the restless ghost. In 2013?s unsettling ?Under the Skin,? the actress was directed into signaling a hybrid?s dawning consciousness (and conscience); here, she?s limited to looking puzzled while convoluted plot elements stream around her. The time Johansson logged among the Avengers means she could perform the role?s ass-kicking aspects in her sleep ? but in so many other scenes, she appears to be on autopilot.
Empire
There is a frustrating absence of personality which means, for all her physical presence, this Major?s just not very engaging. It?s more a problem with the film than Johansson herself. A case, if you will, of it being so preoccupied with the shell, it forgot to bring enough ghost.
The Wrap
The twisty revelations don?t fare much better, saddled for the most part on the shoulders of Juliette Binoche, whose character pops up every now and then to offer lengthy exposition before shuffling out of the way. Instead, Sanders? interests (and clear passions) lie in simply setting the scene, in building out the details and textures that make up this fantastic visual landscape.
The Guardian
But the disconnect between her human and artificial form is not as interesting as, say, that of Alicia Vikander?s Ava, the robot in Ex Machina, who was able to parade her exoskeleton more openly and make it vulnerable and mysterious
The Hollywood Reporter
The original film managed to be both violent and philosophical, putting the viewer in an uneasy place and pushing us to ponder the future of humanity in an increasingly computerized world ? a world that would have a huge influence on the Wachowskis' magnum opus, all the way down to the cable ports in the back of each character?s head. Here we get a taste of that ambience, but it feels more like a backdrop than the crux of the story, which boils down to yet another good vs. evil scenario where no mystery is left unsolved and conflicts are tied up in an all-too Hollywood way.
Screen Daily
Filmmakers can keep trying, but it seems unlikely that any character will ever surpass the power of Rutger Hauer?s visionary self-aware replicant in Blade Runner