Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008)

aka Kôkaku kidôtai (Japan)

Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Written by Masamune Shirow and Kazunori Itô

Rated R for animated violence, language and nudity

"Ghost in the Shell 2.0" is a CG-laden revisualization of Mamoru Oshii's 1995 cyber-punk classic. I had mixed expectations about this release. On the one hand, "2.0" releases of movies are seldom more than double-dipping on the part of the filmmakers. Rarely does anything come out of these re-edits that actually improves upon the theatrical versions. On the other hand, Oshii himself (for whom I have great respect) helmed the project, and the original voice actors were on board to re-record their lines. When a project's original creator wants to redo a film, you generally assume they have good reason (unless they are George Lucas). The biggest draw for me is that "2.0" is the first version of the original "Ghost in the Shell" to feature full surround sound.

After watching it, I still had mixed feelings. The new scenes are pretty and exciting (especially the lingering close-ups on the Major's computer-generated breasts) but don't add much to the film. Computer generated graphics clash pretty badly with the original animation, though some scenes did benefit from color touch-ups.

One color-changing choice I did not agree with was changing the green tint in some scenes to a sepia-tone. This was apparently done to distance "Ghost in the Shell" from "the Matrix". Long story short: the green looked better. "Ghost in the Shell" predated "the Matrix" by five years, so it's strange they felt the need to go out of their way to avoid "imitating" something that is itself imitative of "Ghost in the Shell".

The dialogue for "2.0" has all been newly recorded by the original cast. I believe some new dialogue has been added in this release, but am not sure as I haven't seen the original in a few years. If there are changes, they don't affect the plot in any major way.

This brings me to another gripe: DVD extras. The "Ghost in the Shell 2.0" DVD has NO SPECIAL FEATURES!!! While you are allowed to chose between dubbing and subtitling and select different audio options, (thank heaven for small favors!) there are no "Bonus Features" whatsoever. This is particularly disappointing because it means several great opportunities were missed. It would have been nice if this DVD included the original theatrical cut of "Ghost in the Shell". Then you could buy both versions of the film at once. It would be even better if in addition to this they added a viewing option in which you can watch both versions side-by-side to compare "2.0" to the original. Maybe there is a fully loaded "2.0" DVD available in Japan, but us Americans are left with a bare-bones DVD. According to other reviews, the Blu-Ray version is just as flawed, though it does includes a few paltry special features.

"2.0" has its biggest success in its soundtrack. The surround sound is great, and uses many of the "panning" techniques that make surround sound fun to have. Inexplicably, some of the music has been changed from the original. I always loved the original soundtrack, so I am a bit befuddled about the seemingly arbitrary changes from the original music. In general, the surround sound is one of the main reasons to watch "2.0" over the original.

I'd give "Ghost in the Shell 2.0" an 8/10. The original "Ghost in the Shell" was a masterpiece of contemporary animation, one of the best animated films of all time. The visual effects they achieved with traditional animation techniques are much more impressive than any of the new CG scenes. "Ghost in the Shell 2.0" turned out to be a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it." The changes they made were mostly unnecessary and tend to detract from the original film. That being said, if you are a huge fan of "Ghost in the Shell", you may want "2.0" for your collection. It's worth watching to see a shiny new take on a classic, but it is no substitute for the original.













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