Live-Action Ghost in the Shell

I get the feeling that, unlike in Big Hero 6, zero efforts will be made in order to acknowledge the original setting of the story. Considering how many themes in the stories are extremely related to Japanese culture, I foresaw a catastrophe.

As for Scarjo's cast, I find it rather ironic. One of her best performances was when she made a bodiless AI voice incredibly human, while for the Major you need to make a real person looking like her humanity is slipping. Which is the complete opposite.

Do we know what this is an adaptation of? It's been a long while, but isn't the film universal in concept and not grounded too hard into Japan? And she's played emotionless already, so it's not like she can't do it.

Gaon got it right. Obviously there are movies aimed at black audiences specifically, and these tend to star black actors, but movies aimed at all audiences can also star black actors, which generally is not the case for other races (well, Latino can also pull it off, but only in cases of But Not Too Black, with actors that may be of hispanic descent but don't seem pointedly so).

Benicio del Toro can be a leading man, even if he usually isn't in blockbusters. As for women, Zoe Saldana is a leading role, but didn't exactly look latina in her most famous movie. Anyway, the racial fear of Hollywood is depressing, there are so many tremendous non-white actors and actresses that would be much better leads than what we often get. Although maybe having Choi Min-sik or Lee Byung-hun as main roles would be too much good acting at once for Hollywood audience, which may cause seizures.

ScarlettJohansson did impress me in "Age of Ultron", but sadly not as a main character. Yet another Action Girl who's just there to help the guys.

Major Motoko Kusanagi is a perfect puzzle piece that makes the story fit. There is a reason her cyborg body is so "sexual": the company that makes them cranks out "sexy bodies" by the dozen. The Major can't be sure if she's a real person or not. not when she sees another body that looks exactly like her. Is the director trying to tell me that we'd not notice a dozen ScarJo's running around? In anime it was unsettling, in live action it would look like a parody of those bad doublemint gum commercials.

Scarlett on the other hand, she's used to technobabble or being the pretty girl on the screen. One early review, back in 2007, I read had "(Cleavage)" in every sentence, because the reviewer wasn't impressed with ScarJo's ability to carry a scene.

I thought it was unfair until I saw her movies.

She's Megan Fox with brains and a better personality. She's pretty and she can act, but not with the depth and emotion Ghost In The Shell calls for. There is a reason she lost the role in "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", not just her being "too pretty". I don't think she can carry a serious movie by herself. Her voice is that femme fatal breathy voice that's more fit for The Vamp than the Major.

That the studio didn't even look for an asian actress shows that this film will be a live action bewbs and explosion fest like most Hollywood movies. Completely missing the point? You're soaking in it!

At least we can get some good riffs on Riff Trax and Channel Awesome will skewer it...

edited 10th May '15 6:27:48 PM by TairaMai

Maybe it will be more akin to Edge Of Tomorrow than a straight adaptation? I'm as disappointed about the lack of Asian actors in Asian-originated works as anyone else; but Jesus' tits, condemning stuff to shit when we know virtually nothing does not do anything to help.

edited 10th May '15 9:30:30 PM by TheAirman

Two thoughts:

First, this has been commented on before by myself and others, but I don't think there's any reason to expect that the film will be set in Japan. The manga/anime obviously is, because the original writer/audience is Japanese, but it could be pretty easily transported to another setting (I'd guess the United States, which is kind of funny because America is Always Chaotic Evil in Gits). While that doesn't mean that Kusanagi (who I'd guess will no longer be called that) can't be Japanese, since there are Japanese-American people, it no longer is necessary once you change the setting.

Second, IIRC, the idea that Kusanagi's body is that of a popular gynoid model is kind of an Informed Ability for the most part. Could make for an amusing bit of Celebrity Paradox in the film.

Doug Liman had a series of films that were So Okay, It's Average: Swingers (1996), The Bourne Identity (2002), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Jumper (2008), Fair Game (2010). Then he got EdgeOfTomorrow.

I checked out Rupert Sanders c.v. on both The Other Wiki and IMDB.com. Mostly shorts and the panned Snow White and the Huntsman....

And...yuck, he's another "McG". Rupert's biggest film news was his affair with Kristen Stewart, overshadowing Snow White and the Huntsman. The screenwriter has an IMDB page that's really short. Like "McG", these two are know for their shorts and lack of genre experience. So they got handed a franchise way outside their depth.

Yeah, I predict a Terminator Salvation level burnout. They will focus on the action above all else. These guys are flash bang, orange and blue Hollywood guys.

edited 10th May '15 9:40:05 PM by TairaMai

Oh, more repetitive bitching about the casting. Figured there was something new being talked about.

The problem with Hollywood doing "Sci-Fi" is the excuse for Idiot Plot or just plain bad writing: "It's science fiction it doesn't have to make sense!"

As Isaac Asimov said "Oh God how that stings!"

It's not just the pouty lead that bothers me. It's that the directors are two knuckleheads who like loud fast action. I'm not convinced that they can hammer out a real story.

In Sf Debris reviews of Star Trek Voyager, he goes into a lot of missed plots, dropped ideas and fumbled plotlines. There was Seven Of Nine, nicely played by Jeri Ryan. Given a character designed to bring the Male Gaze, she (and latter on the writers) tired to develop the character. She Really Can Act: the story Infinate Regress sounds silly (cyborg possessed by the "minds" of her victims) but it works due to the delivery. Ditto the other story The Raven which really showcases Ryan's acting chops despite her wearing a suit that shows the outline of her kidneys. With both eps, the writers gave Jeri Ryan a meaty story that allowed her character to grow and serve as a Plot MacGuffin. A plot MacGuffin you don't notice until well after the story is over....

The director and the writer of this GITS live action are facing an uphill battle. The movie and the manga are much, much more than the Major beats people up and Batou shoots people and the boss talks.

Sadly that's how Hollywood sees it.

Poor Scar Jo can't cook with cold grease. I don't think she's up to the task for the role. Director and screenwriter aren't up to the task either.

Prove me wrong guys.

<Sincerity Mode=On>

The feminist in me wants to see a woman carry a picture. She wants to see a wonderful female protagonist end the sausage fest that is American cinema.

As much as I bitch, I'd really like to eat my words, but I strongly suspect this won't happen ...

edited 12th May '15 11:19:56 AM by TairaMai

The philosophy was the point and arguably took up more of the screentime, which helped give the action scenes more punch because the show wasn't all action all the time.

You know what the sad part is? You know the guy that made Ex Machina recently? His tone of film would be perfect for the GITS universe: hell you could actually make a pretty strong argument that it could possibly be a prequel film showing the origin of the technology behind prosthetic cyborgs and androids, with Ava being a prototype gone wrong.

Alas, that would be the smart thing to do.

Look at Johnny Mnemonic the short story vs. JohnnyMnemonic the Film of the Book.

A lot of the grit and meat of the story was tossed out for the sake of trying to make an action picture. The reason a lot of fans of books/anime/old movies hate the (new) movie is not just "They Changed It, Now It Sucks!" it's the padding, tacked on action scenes and a focus on Male Gaze. Or worse, Completely Missing The Point: the story becomes In Name Only due to all the changes from script to screen via Studio Execs who want a film that's "marketable".

Sometimes it works, oftentimes it's not.

In a nutshell, this is why I fear for a live-action GITS...

edited 14th May '15 8:02:06 PM by TairaMai

I necro this thread to reveal news!

Pilou Asbæk cast as Batou.

...yeah, no idea what this guy's like, so make of that what you will. Hopefully he's a lot taller than ScarJo.

In other (earlier) news, Jonathan Herman, the writer of "Straight Outta Compton" to rework the script for Ghost in the Shell.

...Sweet? I've literally never seen Straight Outta Compton, but I've heard good things about it.

edited 10th Nov '15 4:04:52 PM by TargetmasterJoe

Never seen him act (Asbek). Can't wait for the new season of Game of Thrones. Supposedly very positive comments were made about his acting.

Not really who I thought of for Batou though. Was thinking more like Idris Elba, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson, or Demian Bichir- all actors who have played Rabid Cop types that were somehow still sympathetic.

Actually, Gleeson might be the best since Batou isn't supposed to be particularly good looking.

Brendan Gleeson?

Um, isn't he in his 60's? I don't know, Gleeson never came to mind as Batou for me. But then again, I'm remembering him more for his voicework rather than his actual live-action work recently. (You can thank Song of the Sea for that. )

And to my knowledge, being Batou means being tall and looking like you can take a punch or two while being capable of throwing two punches or three. And I don't know if Gleeson's fit enough for any of that physical work...

That's who I meant but yeah, he does look a bit worse for wear.

I think Neeson would be my ideal "fan cast".

Something about Neeson with bottle caps on his eyes just talking in general makes me chuckle.

That is a pretty funny image, although I'd hesitate to laugh at Liam Neeson.

Edit- Oh yeah- remembered another casting idea- Jean Reno. Like the other suggestions, experience playing badass cops. And Batou is potentially French (Batou = Bateau = Boat).

edited 10th Nov '15 7:34:47 PM by Hodor2

I second the Jean Reno suggestion.

For those who don't know, Pilou Asbæk plays Kasper Juul, the spin doctor, in Borgen. He appeared alongside ScarJo in Lucy. He's also gonna appear in a remake of Ben-Hur, set to be released the next year (which stars Jack Huston and Morgan Freeman).

Oh, did I also mentioned that he co-hosted the◊ Eurovision Song Contest, once?

edited 10th Nov '15 8:30:54 PM by Quag15

Let's see, a writer with no Anime/Manga experience has been chosen to "re-work" the GITS script...

...at least Sf Debris and Channel Awesome will get some good riffs off it.

But the anime is? :/ I thought it was actually pretty deep.

The anime is pretty good, with the arc about "the Laughing Man" etc.

But Hollywood is all bewbs and 'splosions.

A lot of "remakes" or "adaptations" are just: "Look at this thing an laugh/smile/react you sheep" or "The thing! The actor said the phrase from the thing you like! Send us money!"

I'd love this movie to prove me wrong, but Hollywood has a bad track record when it comes to adapting anime/book/manga/comic to the big screen.

the best anime film i have seen is rurouni kenshin, which was not made by hollywood.

to be honest they should be the ones making this film too.

edited 11th Nov '15 9:46:35 PM by wehrmacht

Why haven't they though? The closest Japan is doing to a live action Ghost in the Shell is a rock opera based on Arise.