GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (2004)

I need you to understand something: The first film changed my whole perception of what a good film is. I thought that I had seen great anime until I witnessed what I still think of as one of the best films of all time. I’m not just talking about animations you understand – I rate this as one of the greatest things ever to come out of the imaginations of mortal man. The visuals are exquisite, the audio amazing and the story, well, the story is possibly a little rushed and could possibly do with a little more explanation, but it still pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I also need to point out that I’ve not seen the series (Stand Alone Complex) or read the Manga, so please remember that my views and opinions are based solely on the second (and to some extent) the first movies. So with that out of the way let me just say that the second film, ‘Innocence’, is even better than the first.
When Vaughan first asked me if I wanted to do the review of G.I.T.S 2 I felt like the proverbial feline that gets stuck in the dairy farm. I was a little apprehensive however as I was expecting so much from this that I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed. I wasn’t. The first thing that struck me were the visuals. The mix of CGI and classic animation was fabulous. The crisp lines and details of the hard landscapes of the city and the simpler drawings of the characters worked brilliantly. I have to admit I’m a bit of an audiophile and I wasn’t let down by the immersive DTS soundtrack that comes on disk two of this set. The music was perfectly balanced for the movie, and the sound effects really pulled you into the action scenes. As a purely tele-visual experience, taking no notice of the story, this is one of the most pleasurable experiences of my film watching life.

So, what about the story? Well, it’s not that easy to follow to be honest (the original English subtitles of the Japanese story are apparently very difficult to understand, so the English dubbing has been made to try to explain it better to the wider audience). ‘Innocence’ is set after the original GITS and continues the story of a Section 9 Officer, Bateau and his new partner Togusa. Section 9 is a bit like the police but with more power, more guns and more attitude. Bateau was one of the two leads in the first film along with The Major, who has disappeared (I won’t say anymore than this as it would ruin the first film for those of you that haven’t seen it) and it carries on following his life, both personal and professional, as he is searching for his old partner, solving crimes and looking after his dog. The crimes in question are the unfathomable actions of some robots called ‘Gynoids’ who have killed their owners and then apparently committed silicon suicide. These Gynoids, or Dolls as they are also known, serve only one purpose and that is of being mechanical mistresses for the rich and powerful. I think that here is as good a point as any to explain a little something quite integral to the plot. The story is set in 2032 and technology has advanced somewhat. They have personal robots, which has already been mentioned for those of you not paying attention, they have cool looking cars and really funky helicopter/plane things and human flesh is no longer a necessity. You see, in the future robotics and computer technology has advanced so much that the need for this soft fleshy stuff that we have all grown quite accustomed to can be replaced with motorised components. You could be an office worker with a stapler in your finger or a full-on super soldier with all of your body transformed into mechanical death. But in all of this the ‘Ghost’ still remains. This is the human soul, but even this cannot escape the touch of progress and it can be digitised and stored like so much soft-core porn.
So, as I was saying before I got sidetracked, these pleasure robots have been killing their owners and, as you may expect, they are all linked in such a way as to hint at the fact that they are not merely malfunctioning but that there is a more sinister plot behind the actions. Section 9 get on the case and one thing leads to another and to another and…well, you get the idea. Queue a good number of spent shell casings and quiet contemplative moments and you reach the climax via what can only be described as a rather confusing journey. Quotes from the Bible and Descartes that I assume were included to drive the narrative along, I found a little pretentious and misplaced in the story. I’m the first to admit it – I didn’t quite get what was going on all the time. This didn’t stop me enjoying the film but I would have probably enjoyed it more had I not had to think so much. There are moments of absolute calm, and moments of out and out brutality, and surprisingly one of my favourite scenes is one of the first: the simple action of Bateau feeding his Basset Hound. There are no guns, no blood, the dog doesn’t explode, but we are seeing the human side of Bateau who is almost completely manmade, and it really is heart warming. This really is an adult animation and will stand the test of time as one of the most dazzling films of its genre. Actually, scratch that, it’ll stand the test of time as one of the most dazzling films of any genre. I loved it.

The DVD presentation is found on 2 discs and is not split as you may expect with the film on disc one and the extras on disc 2. The first disc does in fact have a version of the film on it but it is the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound track (both English dub and original Japanese) where as the second disc has the better quality DTS track (again both English dub and original Japanese) and is the one that I watched. Also included on the first disc is a making of documentary and a commentary by director Mamoru Oshii and animation director Toshihiko Nishikubo – fortunately with subtitles. Disc two contains the DTS sound track, as stated, but also has a Stand Alone Complex Gig2 sneak peak, an exclusive interview done by Manga UK with Mamoru Oshii, the original Japanese trailer for the film and a number of trailers for other Manga titles. All in all, a great package for lovers of outstanding cinema.