Scarlett Johansson does a convincing job in this movie, as Major Mira Killian aka Motoko Kusanagi – an elite government agent with a human brain and a synthetic body. The proverbial ghost in her shell, is her pervading spirit and her returning memories that the agency attempted to wipe clean.
It’s an exciting concept with a mediocre level of substance to the script so it runs a bit dry of what it could be with more budget & creativity. Bearing in mind it’s not even an original story for this movie, it’s based on a Japanese seinen manga comic from 1989 which has had many TV shows, movies and computer games named after it long before this movie came out.
Supporting actors generally do a decent job, especially Pilou Asbæk who plays a tough guy with big guns called Batou who is Major’s main accomplice; and Takeshi Kitano who plays Aramaki who is one of the leaders of the agency, who puts his loyalty to Major and to ethics ahead of his loyalty to his murderous co-leader Cutter played by Peter Ferdinando.
It’s not easy for a woman to pull off an action hero lead role like this, but Scarlett does alright.
