“They Stole It” – “Ghost in the Shell” (2017) Movie Review

As a kid of 90’s origin, I’ve grown up with Japanese animation for quite some time. From the typical Toonami programming my childish brain lived on, to the cultural evolution it took when going into Miyazaki’s more mature titles, anime shaped me into one heck of a person. Though other titles were more influential to my personal story than others, part of that growth involved a title called Ghost in the Shell.

“Ghost in the Shell” Live Action Clips Debut Online

Filled with controversy since the moment it was announced, the Dreamworks/Paramount Pictures co-produced movie, Ghost in the Shell,  seems to be losing fans rather than gaining any. But with the release of the first ever footage from the March 2017 release – showing Scarlett Johansson as “The Major” in all her cyborg glory – these clips might cool your rage a bit rather than adding more fuel to the fandom fire.

Black Widow and the Hulk Flip the Sexist Interview on its Head

Coming off of the fiasco that was the interview with Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans, the Avengers: Age of Ultron press tour has been saved thanks to the heroics of Black Widow and the Hulk.

In an interview with UK Cosmo, Mark Ruffalo is asked to answer the questions that Scarlett Johansson is usually asked in interviews, and vice versa. Hilarity ensues as Ruffalo struggles to, “embrace [his] feminine side,” and describe what poses he is going to strike on the red carpet and what kind of makeup remover he uses to get his green Hulk face off.

On the other side, ScarJo gets to answer whether or not she does her own stunts, and what she likes about playing Black Widow. We even learn about her stunt woman, Heidi Moneymaker, and how they worked together to make Natasha a more rounded out character.

‘No Place for Any of Us’: Age of Ultron Trailer 2

“This vulnerable world needs something more powerful than any of us.”

It’s not as catchy or menacing as Ultron’s “there are no strings on me,” but hey, it gets the point across. Even though any AoU release is going to rouse excitement, this trailer dropped like a feather pillow rather than the ton of bricks that trailer #1 did. In-between shots of terrified civilians running for their lives, we get Hawkeye arm porn, which is apparently so scandalous since the next time we see him he’s all covered up in practical gear. Not sure why, considering he’s chillaxing in the forest while things explode. Other highlights include Hulk playing soccer with a cop car, some frightening peeks at Natasha’s backstory, Andy Serkis doing who the hell knows what, lots of car damage, Black Widow hair porn, and HULKBUSTER ARMOR IN ALL ITS GLORY. *cue fan drooling* It’s a nice change from the last trailer where we saw Hulk giving it a beatdown.

Some of the footage is similar, albeit in a different order, but the new stuff does raise a few questions:

Ghost in the Shell Casting Confirmation

Ghost in the Shell is set to get a live action remake sometime soon.  Today Scarlett
Johansson officially signed on to play the lead role.  In recent years, her portrayals of Lucy and Black Widow cemented her action star status and acclaim from both critics and fans.  It’s a well-deserved distinction, and I’m definitely one of those fans, but still I think in this instance she might have been the wrong casting choice.

Ghost in the Shell already has a rich history, starting as a manga series in the 80’s.  Mamoru Oshii adapted it into two anime films in 1995 and 2004, not to mention several video game adaptations and a TV series on Animax. Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks acquired the film rights back in 2008.  Since then, writers, producers, and potential cast members have flip-flopped frequently.  At this moment, Rupert Sanders will direct a William Wheeler screenplay.  Johansson replaced Margot Robbie for the lead role.

2014: A Little Closer to Equality

Let’s face it, everyone knows the film industry has a long way to go when it comes to treating women as equals.  It remains a fact that for roughly every fifteen male directors there is just one female director, only 30.8% of speaking roles go to women, and the majority of major motions pictures seem to be marketed to men.  Not only that, but women seldom get the roles that their male counterparts are offered, and are generally expected to wear revealing clothing or appear partially naked with far greater frequency than male actors (28.8% of the time compared to 7% for men).  Still, despite this, 2014 was a pretty good year to be a woman in the movie industry, or just a woman who wants to watch movies.