Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 21, 2017

Ghost in the Shell stands as one of the most popular, influential, timeless, beloved, and purposeful Anime films of all time. It's even spawned a live action adaptation (which released to mixed reviews) but it's the animated source material that's gained a firmly entrenched following over the years. The movie's sequel is Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, a film that picks up some time after the events of the original. It's just as dark, mysterious, and philosophical in its commentary on the human condition and the rapid rise of technological integration into the everyday lives of biological beings. The film is perhaps a bit too explorative in its foundational themes, threatening to alienate a potentially larger audience attracted to the film following the first's success and practically universal word-of-mouth praise, but for audiences that don't mind engaging the brain more than the eyes and ears, the movie proves a real treat with no shortage of thought-provoking material paralleling its superficial action scenes and depictions of a Blade Runner-styled future landscape.

In the future, humans have been augmented with technology and artificial intelligence. Almost nobody is completely human anymore, at least "human" as it's understood today, and biologically. Batou, essentially now more machine than man, works for Section 9. He and his largely human partner, Togusa, investigate murders. It's been some time since Batou's old partner, Major Motoko Kusangi, essentially became a computer, leaving only her "ghost" behind. Batou has been searching for her ever since. The pair's latest case sees them investigating a string of murders involving malfunctioning sex dolls that may contains human "ghosts."

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence suffers through some buddy cop cliché and its world can't shake that unoriginal, Blade Runner copycat feel, but it's otherwise an edgy, dank, dreary, dystopian film that hits its themes hard, even if it leaves structural characterization a little behind. It's moody but smart, perhaps not profound but certainly deep as it explores the human condition by way of characters, and vis-à-vis a world, that have seemingly, superficially, lost humanity, both literally and metaphorically by way of the integration of the digital and the flesh. But they also embrace humanity in their own way. In a way, the further these characters have moved from basic flesh-and-blood, the more they seem to understand it, the more they seem willing to explore it. The world around them is still very much "human" as well. Many of the same problems still exist, exacerbated by technology, and the film follows the cops both along the crude maneuverings of the dreary and unforgiving pursuit of the criminal element but also their quest for purpose, and the film is at its best when the two converge. It's classic Science Fiction, offering a detailed study of fundamental concepts in a manner not immediately familiar to the audience but with relatable concepts emerging from the unfamiliarity.

It's certainly very much the antithesis of typical Anime flair, visually to be sure with its bleaker, less forgiving visual structure, where many other Anime films, whether light fluff or more serious, intellectual properties like this, ease the viewer in with an abundance of color and flair. Not here. Innocence is as bleak as they come, a movie that's more concerned with story over style, substance over silliness. It's not necessarily representative of the "Anime" style, yet its predecessor has ascended to the top and this sequel makes for a worthy follow-up in its wake. The movie's structural delivery is supported by quality voice work that might be a little stiff and simplified in its cadence -- particularly in the English translation -- but every character comes alive with feeling and depth, even Batou, whether the characters are conversing about dog food choices or pondering significantly deeper concepts as their investigation unfolds.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence shows a few warts, but the image is largely stable and satisfying. Problem areas include occasional banding, aliasing, and noise; the latter is fairly consistent, the former two a little less frequent. Noise is most readily visible on Batou's forehead near the 48-minute mark. The world of Innocence is fairly drab and dreary. It's often mired in shades of gray, while brighter colors are often diffuse and lacking vibrancy, even blue and orange computer readouts. The use of fatigued colors and dreary primaries give the movie a particular visual edge that reinforces many of its plot points and ideas. Detailing is fine. The animation, particularly foreground characters and objects, are rather crudely defined, lacking much nuance, but backgrounds and environments are a little more complex; the 1080p resolution certainly helps present it all with a fair bit of sharpness and raw definition, but the source itself isn't going to open any eyes. Black levels tend to push a little pale, favoring a gray, washed out appearance rather than a deep, true black. Despite its issues, the image pleases more often than it doesn't; lower expectations and a watch shouldn't cause too much stress.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence features a pair of Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtracks, one in the original Japanese and one in dubbed English. Unfortunately, it's impossible to switch tracks "on the fly" via remote press; changing requires a trip to the menu and selecting the language from that screen. With that out of the way, both tracks are excellent with little, if any, noticeable difference (beyond language, of course) evident between the two, sampling a scene in one and returning to listen to it again in the other language. Regardless of selection, the track offers a healthy, robust listen that takes full advantage of the entire soundstage. Directional effects are excellent, whether a zipping helicopter, moving vehicles, or whizzing bullets. Action effects enjoy healthy, robust, active detailing. Gunfire pops with some authority and traverses the stage with impressive, seamless movement. Lower end effects, like explosions or concussive ordinance fire, are equally potent and capable of moving around the stage. Atmospherics bring a number of sonically interesting locations to life with nicely enveloping sound fields and well defined environmental details. Music enjoys wide berth along the front in addition to strong clarity and some surround support. Dialogue in both languages offers impressive center-focused positioning, balanced prioritization, and natural clarity.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence contains a commentary, a making-of, and trailers. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV digital copy are included with purchase.

• Audio Commentary: Director Mamoru Oshii and Animation Director Toshihiko Nishikubo discuss the film in-depth: the film's evolution from concept to finished product, the basic filmmaking process, the visual style, additional team members' duties on the film, the film's visual tone, challenging sequences, and much more. In Japanese with English subtitles.
• The Making of Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence (480i, 16:00): This featurette features a discussion of characters, the animation process, digital work and CG, making various elements in the film, music, voice work, and more.
• Japanese Trailer (480i, 5:33).
• Trailers (1080p, 9:53): Additional FUNimation titles.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence offers a stylishly bleak Sci-Fi/Anime examination of the human condition through a mildly dystopian future where the line between flesh and blood and technology has become blurred. The film may be a little too thoughtful for its own good, sacrificing some entertainment value for its musings and philosophical pondering, but it's an excellent film that meshes style with substance and serves as a very good follow-up to one of the titans in the Sci-Fi/Anime styles. FUNimation's Blu-ray boasts fair video, fine audio, and a couple of quality extras. Highly recommended.