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Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Existential Film Noir 
Studio: Production IG Format: Movie Released: 3/6/2004 Written by: Face 
I approached Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence with optimism and excitement, confident that a sequel to Mamoru Oshii's groundbreaking 1995 animated classic (Ghost in the Shell), might be entertaining science fiction, and maybe even turn out better than the original just maybe. As the characters started to quote the Bible, and quote Confucius, and quote Milton, and quote Descartes, I leaned far back in my chair, trying to remember what it was Confucius meant when he said or wait, maybe that was Milton?
To be honest, I tried. I really did. I sat through the endless rhetorical diatribes, ingesting what I could and excreting what I couldn't. I made it past the treacherous plot holes with only a few intellectual bumps and bruises. But, with a frustrated brain, I realized my efforts were not going to be enough, because this was a film too portentous to notice it was retreading familiar ground. As one character so appropriately states, No matter how far a jackass travels, it won't come back a horse. Innocence tells the story of Batou, a law enforcement cyborg, and his mostly-human partner, Togusa, as they investigate a series of suicidal, owner-killing gynoid sex doll incidents. They are referred to as dolls because they lack self-awareness and, most importantly, they lack a Ghost a sort of digital soul, if you will. What makes this case such a troubling philosophical conundrum for everyone is because of a few reasons: (1) they can't figure out how or why a doll could or would commit suicide or murder and (2) for some reason, everyone in the future speaks in ontological riddles. Oshii is largely concerned with the stagnation of the human race, and his most affective visions involve the disunity of human and mechanical junctures. In a world so advanced, he wonders if humans are truly needed to sustain it. Oshii's characters outline his vague perception in a journey through Yakuza hideouts, corner-store gun fights and extravagant parades all portrayed with a beautiful marriage of traditional 2D animation and advanced 3D techniques. Oshii's vision is illustrated through a wonderfully animated dioramic, and his attention to detail is astounding.  The problem is Oshii's philosophical ramblings are largely the same, and everything else is largely inconsequential. There is an attempt to humanize the stern and rigid Batou by expressing his emotions through the innocence and stupidity of his useless dog, while Batou himself prefers to remain placid and loquacious. In a movie so taken with talk, the dog's silence was its most analeptic quiescence.
As the burly cyborg and the scrawny human made their way around the back alley boonies and the sweeping castles, I couldn't help but think: in the future, will everyone be obsessed with the finer details of their existence? Will discourse morph into an exchange of references? Will police academies train their officers in the ways of Cartesian philosophy? If Oshii's perception is, in fact, accurate, it seems to me we will have much more to be afraid of than the nature of being. * * 1/2 (Fair) Posted: October 2, 2004
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