*So far, the consensus seems to be that Ghost in the Shell is a merely okay film. I haven’t seen it and had no plans to do so, not because of the Whitewashing, although that’s a big issue, but because I’m more than a little tired of looking at Scarlett Johansson.
There’s quite a lot of spectacle but yeah, there’s the little issue of Whitewashing, not just of the film itself, but actually referenced in the plot, where the identity of an Asian character, Motoko, is erased and placed in the body of a White woman.
According to the critics, it is possible to watch this movie and not care about any of the social issues involved, but this movie is never gonna be a classic, and doesn’t have the depth of the original anime. It’s never going to be Bladerunner, or The Matrix either, no matter how much it apes those movies aesthetics. According to the critics, it’s a gorgeous film that lacks warmth. It’s at about 51% on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The reception of the movie, even by audiences, has been rather lukewarm.
There are a handful of reviews giving it a rousing endorsement, like Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Telegraph and The Chicago Tribune (Roger Eberts old employer). But the critics who panned it, come from more Geek oriented online sites, that skew much younger than the ones mentioned above, with a millennial audience who grew up watching the original movies and series, and I guess they’re unimpressed by the story.
http://www.salon.com/2017/03/29/scarlett-johansson-and-the-perils-of-white-feminism/
http://www.avclub.com/review/beguiling-ghost-shell-more-replicant-remake-252941
http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15114902/ghost-in-the-shell-review-scarlett-johansson
https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/ghost-shell-review-remake-2017-johansson/?tu=gav
http://www.gq.com/story/ghost-in-the-shell-review
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/30/ghost-in-the-shell-review
http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/30/15121524/review-ghost-in-the-shell
http://www.businessinsider.com/ghost-in-the-shell-review-2017-3
*And because apparently I’m just not finished bashing Iron Fist for what we could have had vs. what we got:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/heres-the-important-stuff-that-happens-in-iron-fist-so-1793445273
http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/21/14980216/iron-fist-problems-marvel-netflix-writing-villains-optics
http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/17/14958828/finn-jones-and-iron-fist-have-one-thing-in-common
*Bottom line: if your character’s backstory features him punching a gobdamn dragon, to obtain his superpowers of being able to punch shit, and you don’t show that shit on screen, you need your entire ass thoroughly kicked. So far, we’re stuck with Finn Jones as Danny Rand but this can be fixed. He’s never going to look good as a martial artist until he gets some serious training. Put him in some intense stunt training, so that he can at least look as competent as the actors from The Matrix. Get a brand new showrunner. And this time find someone who gives a shit about Danny’s Rand being Iron Fist, cares about his martial abilities, and is willing to do the research to make it look good.
*Just to cheer us all up, here are some Logan reviews. I loved this ugly, bittersweet movie, so much.
https://theringer.com/logan-and-conquering-pessimism-through-fatherhood-86d377ae85b9
Geeking Out about It 