Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Reviewed By: Mario Aguilar

DVD Dreamworks Home Entertainment

Rated PG-13

What it’s (basically) all about:  Robots created solely for sexual pleasure (gynoids) begin killing humans in a series of murders.  Batou, a cyborg agent for Special Security Section 9, investigates the crimes with his new human partner Togusa.  During the course of the investigation, Batou discovers not only the secret behind the murders, but also that he has a “guardian angel”.

Nitty Gritty:  The film starts out with Batou arriving at a gruesome crime scene complete with splattered blood and headless corpses.  As it turns out, the crimes were committed by robots solely created for pleasuring their owners sexually.  The gynoids have also started to commit suicide.  The actions by the robots went against their protocol, so Batou investigates why they committed the crimes.  In the end, it is revealed that the ghosts of live little girls have been inserted into the gynoids as a way to make them more appealing and marketable. 

The film is primarily targeted towards adults, with a seemingly unending stream of paradoxical philosophical rants.  This might leave younger viewers disinterested.    There is also brief partial nudity virtually any time a gynoid is on the screen, the worst of which occurs when the gynoid in the opening scene rips off her synthetic breasts.  The cursing is minimal but is there.  The crime scenes are the worst of the violence, but there are also plenty of violent gun battles.

One of the best parts of this movie is that the characters seem more human.  Batou is shown to have feelings for the Major and there is a focus on his love for his dog.  Togusa’s family is also frequently referenced and is shown at the end of the film.  These all help to connect the audience to the characters and story, something that the previous movie lacked. 

The film is not dubbed in English but subtitles are available.  Special features include commentary by director Mamoru Oshii and animation director Toshihiko Nishikubo, the Making of Ghost in the Shell2: Innocence, a Japanese trailer for the film, and previews for Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, and Millennium Actress.

Survey says:  With all of the sexual themes, philosophical rants, and violence, this film belongs with its predecessor in the adult collection.

Personal Ad:  In all honesty, I thought that some of the traditional animation mixed with a lot of the CG at the beginning of the movie looked a little out of place.  But, as the film went on, the CG got better and I found myself speechless.  My favorite CG scenes were the store scene when Batou buys dog food and the elaborate parade scene.  Both were discussed in detail in the special features. 

The story itself was great on one level and a little too much on another.  At times I felt the same kind of excitement and philosophical insight that made the first film enjoyable.  At other times however, I thought the film should have been called Ghost in the Shell 2:  Intro to Philosophy.  Batou and other constantly go back and forth with their favorite memorized philosophy quotes and it gets a little old.  Still, the questions of life you are forced to think about are perplexing and fascinating.  I ended up liking the first and second films equally.