Forum - View topicScarlett Johansson: Live-Action Ghost in the Shell Begins Filming in Early 2016
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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I have a feeling that you're probably right.
No need to - you're already dead. (my favourite Kenshiro kill) |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2418 Location: Germany |
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Johansson isn´t a bad actress and only a bad choice. The other talents though are complete write-offs and the entire project has a 30-50% tomato-meter written all over it.
Thus i probably won´t even watch the movie which will be fascinating as i have been reading about it since the late 90s  . Well the movie is made to not appeal to the manga/comic audience so if any of you saw Æon Flux (i didn´t) just imagine that again. The movie can only be better than Guyver or Fist of the North Star though and the existence of Blade Runner 2 sounds way worse too me as nonsensical adaptations of japanese material are just to be expected at this point. Whatever and most audience members will probably think that the movie is ripping off the Matrix (the irony) and youtube trailer comments will probably assume that this is based on Deus Ex. Arise and the new manga are great so we still have them and the 2015 movie.
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XSp
Posts: 255 |
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Here's one thing I'll have to say about this: if the movie serves at least to make more people interested in reading the manga, watching the movies and animes, or doing like I did few years ago and go through a marathon of all of those, it'll be good enough.
I mean, I have been reading the manga, and watching movies/anime since back in 1999, kinda sparsely... but doing an entire marathon gives a very different feel to it. 
Just find if really hard to keep in line with the original works. My guess is that at most, it'll be a moderately good action flick in tune with the overplayed gritty trend of super hero action flicks of the likes Marvel and DC has put out recently. The choice cast already shows that they will be westernizing the whole thing to bring it closer to audience. I don't like it, but can't ask for Hollywood to work in any other way at this point. I find it hard for some personalities, ideas, philosophies among other elements to be finely translated from the original work to a "western future society" atmosphere. The other problem is about depth. The long lasting appeal of Ghost in the Shell lies into philosophical and political themes plus a range of hypothetical ideas regarding taboos and ethical questionings of a theoretical future that is far more niche than it sounds. Much like Neon Genesis Evangelion, it's far more intellectual and introspective than it seems on first look. Evangelion has as perhaps more mainstream exploration the eva units, angels, and the journey of the hero thing going with Shinji to a point. In a similar sense, Ghost in the Shell has a sort of futuristic line of investigative storytelling, robots, future tech, and some other ideas. But what really made classics out of both are elements that usually goes in the opposite direction of mainstream, big budget Holywood movies, etc. Religious simbolism and a string of philosophies and questionings in Eva, theoretical ethic challenges, philosophies, and very intricate political scenarios for Ghost in the Shell. The conundrum is that if Ghost in the Shell movie was made very close to the source, faithful to the original work exploration, it would bust simply because it's not mainstream material even if it is a famous title these days. In turn, if the depth is eliminated and the work takes shortcuts to appeal to a mainstream crowd, like turning it into a sfx action flick and white washing the whole deal, it'll displease fans of the original work. Tough job I guess. So while I sympathize with fans worrying for what will be churned out of this, I can't avoid feeling pitty for those who will work in it. |
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scriver058
 Posts: 127 Location: NY |
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And that's all well and good for a manga and anime series/movies that were made primarily for a Japanese audience, but trying to stay true to the workings of Japanese politics and social trends in a work you're adapting for American audiences? No quicker way to lose said audience. Its best to just hope that this version can approach some level of depth and relevance where U.S. politics and trends are concerned. |
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Moroboshi-san
 Posts: 174 |
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If you remember that Ghost in the Shell is actually rip-off of Blade Runner you realize this new movie is just a homecoming. Ridley Scott Los Angeles was fairly bit oriental already and I can't see any ideas in GitS which would be culturally far apart what already was seen in 1982.
Well the only political theme explored in Ghost in the Shell was endless corruption and hunger of power of politicians and corporate tycoons. That would translate very well to any country. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14758 |
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There's really not much too Japanese in GitS. It helps that it happens in the future where Japan has changed, so it's not the Japan of today. Ministry politics happen in any Parliamentary system, which most Western governments are. Their body appearances are just mere shells - adaptable to different situations. And there's already foreigners in the cast. |
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the-antihero
 Posts: 726 |
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Why does Hollywood keep casting the wrong people?
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residentgrigo
Posts: 2418 Location: Germany |
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I know that someone else tried to turn GitS into a Hollywood film but i bothered to look up that DreamWorks bough the right in 2008 so this version will have only 9 years on its back when it comes out. Well Catwoman was in development for 12 years with 28 writers credited so the GitS script could have moved through 21 hands by 2017 if my math checks out.
Good luck on April 14, 2017 and i am way more interested to get my hands on the crazy Akira scrip that nearly went into production 2 years ago. Unless Batou will be cast with Shia LaBeouf. That i would watch or he could keep his new beard and play Ishikawa. I am actually more bothered that a lot of people will pick up the 1989 manga or even worse its printed sequel(s) and then never pick up another manga/comic again. The original tale is already a 6/10 mess that Mamoru Oshii then somehow turned into gold (Patlabor 2 is still better) but GitS 2.0 has lesbian tentacle sex (not a joke) and a narrative so dense that none managed to figure it out till this day. Not even wikia. There i said it. This abortion will be better than GitS 2.0, the new shooter (why?) or anything else by Masamune that isn´t Appleseed which he still hasn´t completed despite all the adaptations. Any day now or maybe not as that "visionary" has been doing hentai 21 years straight. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18182 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Apparently you never saw Lost in Translation? And I've seen nothing deficient about her acting in the Marvel stuff. In terms of casting, if you're looking at Ms. Johannsen as a match for Motoko, I can see why people might complain. If you're looking at it in terms of how well she can carry out the role, though, I see no problem. Heimdall wasn't black in the comic books, but no one I know who was a long-term fan of the Thor comic books had a problem with his casting/portrayal in the movies. Granted, that was only a minor supporting role and this is a major one, but as long as she gets the personality right, I don't care. Besides, I still think she's one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, so I'd watch just about anything she's in. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13552 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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A big question is what does Shirow Masamune think of it when it gets released. I think the creators and rights holders opinions of a film might trump the opinions of the audience.
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5917 |
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It's only bad casting when it's not someone's ideal choice. |
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Moroboshi-san
Posts: 174 |
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It is kind of ironic that any GitS-anime straight out from Shirow manga (the two first movies) turned out turd whereas anime-original material (SAC) turned out extremely good, even inspirational at times. One of rare cases we had some scriptwriting talent there I guess. People seem to worry about Motoko role but I don't think that's a big challenge: main requirements are to look good on tights and keep poker-face at all times. It requires kind of Arnold Schwarzenegger -level of acting only. |
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2025 |
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I'm a huge fan of Johansson, and I think we're super lucky to get a huge star on board. Not sure about the other people on board, but I'll reserve judgement for when we actually have something to go by. I'm still looking forward to it though. Any mainstream attention anime gets is a good thing IMO. It would be nice if they cast a Japanese actress, but they clearly want a big name to sell the film, and Scarlett's one of the very few female actresses in Hollywood that can carry an action film. Like it or not, Scarlett's going to get a LOT more butts in theatre seats than Rinko.
I do think there CAN be good Hollywood anime adaptations, we just haven't gotten the right one yet. I liked Astro Boy, and Speed Racer is one of the most gorgeous and visual films out there, but neither really made too much of an impression. Unfortunately Dragonball Evolution was so bad, it kinda dampered people's expectations. We need a really good and successful film to fix that. Astro Boy's probably the best we've gotten (a 49% on Rotton Tomatoes is at lot better than Dragonball's 14%!). I could see Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon working well as decent action franchises in the right hands. |
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ragz
Posts: 56 |
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ScarJo is least of my worries with Hollywood GiTS for me... Better / worse than Arise? |
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Cthulolita
Posts: 5 |
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My expectations are low.
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