The anime reboot, Ghost in the Shell, made its debut on Mar. 31. The original idea came from the manga series created by Masamune Shirow. Directed by Rupert Sanders, this electrifying new remake of the 1995 version takes on diverse effects and fresh faces.

The plot revolves around a human-cyborg complex named Major (Scarlett Johansson). Major is primarily comprised of a human brain (otherwise known as the “ghost” or “soul”) and a cyborg body (also known as “the shell”) that has been synthetically enhanced by Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche). Set in a world where technologically and the human mind merges, a majority of the characters are not 100% human. Hanku Robots, Japan’s leading conglomerate for technological advances, worked on creating Major. She is the first of her kind, designed to become a devoted super soldier in stopping crime and terrorism. However, this type of terrorism is on a whole new level: hacking into minds and controlling them. Major learns that the person behind all of this is just like her. Identified as Project 2501 or more commonly, Kuze (Michael Pitt), Major eventually learns that he’s the first of their kind, not her. She was, however, to be the first successful one of her kind. Major starts to discover her true past and memories of when she was a real human being. She discovers her true name, which is Motoko. Dr. Ouelet and Mr. Cutter (Peter Ferdinando), CEO of Hanku Robots, has been feeding lies to Major about her past. Major then realizes that her life wasn’t saved, it was stolen.

This film didn’t particularly strike me as interesting mainly because of how similar the plot is to other films. I found Ghost in the Shell to be a combination between Terminator and any teen, dystopian film like Divergent. To see a human-cyborg discover her true past on screen seems interesting, but it’s really just a messy mix of over-used ideas. I found the film plot to be bland and it bored me most of the time. Moreover, a majority of the film was rather predictable. In the film, Major is given the opportunity to revisit her past life. In the midst, she encounters someone who can very well be her mother. Although not explicitly stated at that very moment in the film, it was not hard to figure out. Another major flaw to this film was its tendency to insert unnecessary (and sometimes awkward) scenes. These irrelevant scenes would have no connection whatsoever to the film plot and it makes it look like they’re just time-fillers.

However, this film didn’t go entirely into flames. There were aspects of the film that were eye-catching. The CGI effects happens to be a main contributor to this. A sci-fi, fantasy-based film is bound to have some amazing effects, and I wasn’t wrong. Being that a majority of the characters aren’t fully human, the CGI effects were really on point and specific as to how their new physical appearance should be. It’s probably the best thing about the film since it was both pleasing to the eye and captivating. Besides mind-blowing effects, character development was another point. What makes a film good is if the audience can relate to the characters on a humane level and an overarching theme of Ghost in the Shell happens to be human behavior. In the beginning of the film, Major is seen as a stoic, emotionless, and a static character despite her human conscience. In other words, she was embracing the more robotic side of her personality. But as soon as Major discovers her mother, the audience can sense a human or emotional connection. It is there that Major starts to feel more human and where the audience can relate to.

Despite many controversial opinions before the film’s release, Ghost in the Shell isn’t entirely bad nor good. My take on it is rather neutral; however, I wouldn’t watch it a second time. Ghost in the Shell is really a film for entertainment, not a film for critical thinking. Overall, I would recommend this film if you’re just here for the action and special effects.