English Dub Review: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Overview:

This sequel to the 1995 hit Ghost in the Shell, was originally released in 2004, but this 4k remaster is back in theaters.

Batou and his “new” partner Togusa track robotic sex dolls that have murdered their masters.

Our Take:

I’ll admit I was excited for this one because as I mentioned in a previous review I recently watched the first Ghost in the Shell as an adult to see if it was as great as I remembered when I was a kid. Please don’t ask why a kid was watching Ghost in the Shell. I always wanted to watch the direct sequel because this world interests me and I love a good cyberpunk setting. I’ll admit I came away a little disappointed but let’s get into the nitty gritty.

Two things you can’t take away from this series no matter what is the animation and voice acting. A lot of the later Ghost in the Shell series use CGI animation and I am not a fan of that at all, but this movie is more reminiscent of the 1995 movie and I loved it. Something about animating it this way makes everything more visceral. Since this is a rerelease the voice actors haven’t changed, there were some changes from the original 1995 film but Richard Epcar has always been Batou to the best of my knowledge. Crispin Freeman is one of my favorite voice actors and I don’t get to hear him often anymore so I love him as Togusa.  Motoko Kusanagi isn’t in the film long but I enjoy how Mary Elizabeth McGlynn voices the character.

Unfortunately for me, that’s about where the positives end. I’m starting to think this series is too convoluted for me and that’s coming from someone who loves a series like Metal Gear Solid. I can’t begin to count how many fakeouts we got in this movie because someone’s “cyber brain” was hacked. When that gets hacked, someone can make you see whatever they want. If often then maybe there aren’t as many advantages to a “cyber brain” as we thought.

I paid attention to the whole film but by the time the credits rolled, I wondered if I had. That’s not a good thing usually. Sure some films rely heavily on their twists and turns but this isn’t one of them. I think I WANT to like this series more than I do. I’m grateful to the original film for being one of the pioneers of anime films but I don’t think anything else in this series is going to top that. My last hope was this movie but unfortunately, those hopes were dashed. As much as I love Batou and Togusa I feel this series needs Kusanagi. The first film ends with her leaving mysteriously to search for something and I think this film would have been better if it focused on that plotline instead of what we got.

In the end, I appreciate this series for what it has done for the medium but if I remove the nostalgia goggles I think it’s less interesting. If you want to watch some great animation then it’s a good idea but if you want a story that doesn’t make you feel dumb then you might need to look elsewhere.