Kôkaku kidôtai: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society

I'm quite a big fan of Masamune Shirow, though I haven't seen much of his recent work. I was first exposed to his intelligent and mildly titillating style in 1994 with Dominion: Tank Police. What was great about that series was the comedy, aesthetic genius and hot chicks. Ghost in the Shell came out the following year and was incredible work. Though a bit complicated for the youngster I was at the time, there were at least loads of tits.

This latest and third movie is pretty damn slick. I haven't watched the Stand Alone Complex series', but the story was engaging and thought-provoking regardless.

I'm really interested in concepts of the cyborg, and visions of the future. I'm not convinced by the idea of downloading a personality into a computer, but most of Shirow's work makes interesting observations of the social problems which would accompany such a move.

The story in this installment is particularly interesting, and follows an attempt by a person or persons unknown to solve political and social problems by manipulating cyber-brains through the global network. Far too complex to waste time explaining, it makes for a great 100 minutes.

The animation is superb, on the most part. The characters and backdrops are awesome, yet occasionally suffer from blatant CGI-ness. Smooth and beautiful it may be, but like the second Appleseed film, it just doesn't look right. Animation is not live action or CGI or any combination of the two, and a degree of difference is what makes each media interesting and fluent. For me, that aspect of this feature was whack, and distracting. Also, CSI-style shaky-cam in anime?? Rubbish.

The music is very good, though not quite as good as the first film, and there is a diabolical song in the first 10 minutes that made my arsehole close-over. Otherwise, the awesome Yoko Kanno (Macross Plus) goes beyond mood-music and achieves an awesome synthesis.

There's a reasonable helping of Shirow sexiness, though not enough. Needs more greased up babes. His trademark cool style in mecha and costume design remains strong, without succumbing to Matrix-style pansy over-styling. The film could have done with more comic relief, however. Shirow is a very funny guy, and this series of films has never really allowed that to find a place. Shame.

The direction is good, though makes obvious what an influence Mamoru Oshii's (Patlabor, Jin-Roh) personal style had on the direction and attitude of the films. That's no bad thing, as he is one of the all-time great directors. It would, however, have been nice to have seen some more impressive personal touches from Kenji Kamiyama.

Essentially very good, though perhaps too engorged with the intellect of the last two films, and trying just that little bit too hard to be cool.

The third Ghost In The Shell feature length film, deviates as a continuation of the Stand Alone Complex series. While in the same universe as the original feature length motion picture which sparked the franchise into world wide recognition, Solid State Society is quite obviously a follow on from the lengthy complex series (hence the name residing in the title). In continuing the story they have created some interesting side points for those who have followed the series thus far, with development of characters while being brave enough to introduce a number of subsidiary characters to enhance the feel of the universe, to show that it itself has progressed and that it's not merely tied down to just four characters.

Ironically while Ghost In The Shell has progressed in the continuation of the story, Togusa for example making the pleasing and logical step up to 'team leader' the story never progresses much from that of "Innocence". Major Kusanagi is still absent from the 'Section 9' set up as she continues her vigilante exploits through the net, solving crimes when and where she can, where like in the second film she is mentioned more often than not and pined over. The plot set up is still identical, a virtual hacker who has capabilities that are often above and beyond the major and section 9 and how they bring down their opposition, who often has a more aversive and political agenda than is first thought. In essence this is very much a follow on from the Stand Alone Complex, because the plot line feels almost like a compressed first season into the confines of one hundred minutes.

Having established Solid State Society as a undeniable continuation of the Stand Alone Complex universe it must also be noted that in this particular installment there is a notable absence of philosophy. Where the original was crammed with the nature of what it means to be human and "Innocence" tackled the nature of reality there is a discernible lack of here. Personally while appreciating the intelligence of the films I often felt they crammed dialogue unnecessarily throwing philosophers names around like frisbees at the beach purely for referential sake, and often the point itself was lost even when understood. Solid State however all but ditches that mantra, much in a similar fashion to the series, yes there are moments of philosophical debate, but it focuses much more on an intelligently constructed cyber-crime thriller plot line which by chance of it being a Ghost In The Shell film carries the characters we have come to be attached to.

The cyber-crime in itself while possibly mirroring "The Laughing Man" from "Gig One" provides a fresh twist and a new way for the writers to show off their skills at constructing new virtual dramas. Aramaki takes much of a backseat focusing a lot more of the attention on the newly cyberised Togusa and how that has affected him. One minor complaint is, most likely through the anglicised dub, but perhaps not, is the garbled mess of plot development within the first twenty minutes as it establishes the who's what's and why's of the newly emerging case.

Ghost In The Shell continues to deliver entertaining, thought out and thoughtful films and stories to add to its ever increasing world, and do not take the mark and criticism i've levelled at this as a sleight, because I did enjoy it. It's merely that I know they are capable of more than a recycling of noble criminals with the "will she stay, won't she stay" of the majors attachment to section 9, and the "will they, won't they" with herself and Batou. The trouble is they seem unable to fuse philosophy with a cracking crime thriller peppered with action to a stable and progressive dialogue. That having been said, for those accustomed to the franchise it highlights why it is so successful, with interesting characters, a future world not entirely removed from ours and an thought out philosophically tinged action packed story line, which has had a huge impact on the cinematic landscape. While Solid State, however, may not have a similar impact as its initial predecessor for those that know the characters and know the world it is a worthwhile addition, and for those that don't, they need to log on and expand their own ghost.

After watching this at least 4 times I am struck at what a fast paced, tight and captivating story this is. The first half is filled with mystery, who is the puppeteer, why are so many officials killing themselves, why did as public servant arrange to have himself killed and why were children being kidnapped. The second half is full on action and when the major is once again working with section 9, it almost brings a tear to your eye. Not as good as the original movie or sequel, which were true classics, but it certainly can be placed in number three spot. This is a must watch for any fan of cyber punk and hot cyborgs.

Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, is probably the weakest in the Ghost in the Shell series of films and TV shows and is the third entry into the Stand Alone Complex series.

The anime is a good as any of the Stand Alone Complex series though doesn't quite match up to the two feature films. The drawing and shading has improved greatly over the series and is at its best here, there are moments when I noticed flickering but this is rare and again better than the two series of Stand Alone Society.

Where the story falls, compared to the rest of the Stand Alone Society is story, which I didn't find nearly as engaging as with previous efforts. Solid State Society is very slow to get going and really never builds the tension that it really should. Too much time seems to be spent on explaining what has happened over between the previous series and this film, which could have worked with a complete series but bogs the film down, with its much shorter running time.

Whilst I didn't hate the film, I must say that I was very disappointed, It is trying to be clever but for me was a let down in what is a very good series.

Not excellent, not mindblowing, but well done nonetheless. Some interesting points are made about the interconnection between the aging of the population and the exploitation of the youth by the ruling class, the action is interesting AAAAAAAND...Motoko finally is back to not being ashamed in the slightest of her body(ies?) (see the ending frame on that). It's also not required to watch the second gig so it's a plus, but I would recommend reading the GITS 1.5: human error processor before dwelling into this, or the first Stand Alone series.