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If I had never seen another Ghibli film I would have enjoyed this more. The animation is stunning as usual but the story is a complete mess. It's so strange to me that this came from Miyazaki. We've seen wonderful storytelling in his previous films and this just feels chaotic and rushed. You're left hoping for some big payoff because nothing is really explained throughout the movie. Instead the last ten percent of the movie is a haphazard attempt at trying to tie things together. Knowing how much work goes into these films is just really confusing to me as to the motivation. Like if some great story isn't being told, why put so much work into the animation? Sorry, I'm just disappointed and confused.

There's some Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner influence but it doesn't bring anything new. It would have been interesting to have a bit more back story on the organization that Tasya works for. At least try to convince me why someone would work for this group. She's not held against her will and it doesn't seem to be about money. The scenes of violence last too long and make me feel two things. The director has some unresolved mental issues, and they use violence as filler to make up for lack of plot. Overall interesting but not worth revisiting. The film feels like an attempt to shock the viewer instead of provide an actual interesting story.

I thought this was a pretty enjoyable courtroom thriller for a Hollywood film. There were a number of crazy outlandish things that happened. If you can forgive that you're in for an entertaining film. The acting was well done and the cast was great. I think the saddest part of this film is it won't happen in real life. We live in a capitalistic hellscape that values guns over human life. The ending was satisfying, a long with the twist. I wouldn't say it was amazing but I didn't feel like I wasted my two hours. If you want a real good courtroom drama without the outlandish stuff I'd recommend the original 12 Angry Men.