nbarlow

I'd heard the Matrix borrowed several elements from this movie - having seen it now i would say that's something of an understatement. Both films are highly stylised action movies that attempt to cram in some philosophy. But while Ghost In The Shell also addresses the main question asked in the Matrix ("what is reality?") it also asks some more interesting questions( "what does it mean to be human? to be alive?"), and though it is occasionally heavy-handed, it is more successful in making you think.

To be brutally honest, most Manga i've seen (with the notable exception of 'Akira') looks kinda cheap due to the somewhat jerky animation. However, though the style of animation is the same here, the artwork is breathtaking - in the evocation of a rain-soaked futuristic city, the choice of camera angles, and the stylised use of light and shadow. The music is also superb, and the sometimes languid pace of the movie feels like a benefit rather than a problem.

As with virtually all movies, watch the non-dubbed version if possible. However, the occasionally clunky translation and second-rate voice acting in the dubbed version can't spoil a classic piece of animation.

This really defines a blueprint for this kind of movie: 1) Guy with ridiculous facial hair and/or silly hat wonders through the wilderness,happens upon another guy practicing Kung Fu 2) Brief conversation involving a) a particular technique of one of the silly-haired-guys, b) the number of provinces in which the other silly-haired guy is undefeated 3) Fight, preferably involving some kind of animal-style Kung Fu. 4) Repeat as many times as you can squeeze into a couple of hours.

Throw in a grueling training sequence (though this maybe isn't quite grueling enough in this movie), a bit of betrayal (ideally involving someone killing someone else's master), some slapstick comedy, some bad dubbing (this genre is really the only one where dubbing should be allowed) and there you have it - the perfect Kung Fu movie. I defy anyone not to enjoy it.