wastebot

For fans of the original film and the 2004 follow-up Innocence, this will be both impressive and disappointing. It seems to be intended as the first part of a TV series rather than a film, so it feels abrupt and under-developed. I may be biased as someone who deeply appreciates robot sci-fi stories but also has high expectations for them.

For first time viewers of any Ghost in the Shell animation, this may be as mind-opening and impressive as the other 2, although the animation style reverts to the original and may seem a little old to people used to more recent animation/cartoon advances. The essence of the science-fiction story remains, with some more modern realism thrown in to keep the story relevant.

The makers should either rebuild and expand this into a proper film or follow-up with another short film that fills in the gaps and then combine the 2. It would be sad to see a great film series like this turn into half-developed TV melodrama.

Money for 2 more weeks of edit/review time and post-production could have turned this into a horror classic. Great story line, even if a bit of a stretch, along with some very realistic nuances along the way bring it to life.

As it is, it's basically the 2000s version of a B-movie. The audio is horrible and there are some scenes that are begging to be cut as the actors are basically left to ad-lib. A little time to step away and watch this again would have made this obvious while better post-production (or maybe just any) would have edited it out.

What isn't hurt by the budget is the acting. They clearly found lots of unknown talent on the cheap. Too bad they couldn't find a wardrobe and sound person equally cheap.

Hopefully, this film gets picked up by a bigger studio that gives it the attention it deserves. The writer and director definitely deserve another film with actual, skilled post-production people as much as this film deserves the same and an attempt to redistribute to theaters.

I can understand when an actor gets hot wanting to capitalize on it and make some money, and of course this is even truer for film companies, but this is just pathetic. It's so obvious here and the film is so pointless that I can't see why the actor or studio would want to risk their reputation on the potential for a very quick buck that may lead both to being unemployed again for an extended period while the certain stench of this film wears off.

Another reviewer mentioned Run Lola Run. In concept, yes, there's a similarity, but don't confuse the two or hope for something remotely near that quality. I never even thought of Run Lola Run watching this and I feel like I'm insulting that film even mentioning it. I expect this will get dumped on theaters around Valentine's day to make some easy money. Run Lola Run is a great film that can be watched at any time of the year, and I highly recommend that instead if you want a suspenseful relationship film with actual uncertainty.