Watch Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence For Free

A Masterpiece!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I'm not going to pretend to know much about the manga but I have watched the original movie and the live-action adaptation. First off, everything on paper seems like this will be great. Director and writer of the first one, same great cast. Then the story starts and it's fine. But then it never really builds into anything. I was completely bored and was just waiting for something interesting to happen. How is this meandering bore the sequel to the fantastic first film?Other nitpicks: Bad already dated looking blending of CG animation with traditional animation. Dull animation of characters from the first one like Batou looked lifeless in this.I crapped on the live-action movie for borrowing too much from the first movie but this one probably could have benefited from looking at the themes of the first in a different way. Instead it veered so far away that it didn't even feel like it was in the same universe.

It was weird not to see the main character from the last movie, Motoko, show up until much later in the film. What I love about this movie is that it isn't just a retread of the first one. It actually does work hard to be its own identity while still doing a good job of continuing the story. The first one is better, because this really did get confusing at times. There were obvious bits of CGI in this movie and it did look jarring. For the most part, it was still a wonderfully animated film and it has some of the most realistic depiction of traditionally animated humans I've ever seen.The best parts of this movie are probably the talking bits with how philosophical they are. This is really what makes the series so good. It's not just nothing but continuous action. Of course, the action is great when we get to see it. We get all the amazing designs of the first film while giving us a new story. I wish I had known more about this series, because it was really hard to follow. What matters is that I had a ton of fun watching it and am glad to have seen it. ***1/2

Even better than the first one, which is very difficult to overcome.I 'll begin to highlight two little flaws (if we can call it that way): 1- Some of the philosophical quotes in the movie could be a bit misplaced. The characters seems to be compelled to quote in an almost steady manner. Anyway, we have to keep in mind this is a very philosophical film in many ways, with a remarkable psychological burden. 2- Being a masterpiece, the movie is too short. Just 100mn. is not enough to recreate oneself with that beautiful imagery and thorough substance.Having said that, this movie goes beyond perfection. And i'm not talking about the amazing music or the astonishing visuals. I'm talking about the serious, accurate, transcendent, intelligent plot/script.In some way is like a mind-blowing trip with many different layers of reality. At a certain point, the viewer does not know in which of them he is. The question has therefore arisen, as to whether we really know where are we heading to, about computer applications in the internet world.10/10

Influential animation director Mamoru Oshii returns with a follow up to the impressive if disjointed Ghost In The Shell, which to be frank is even more impressive and possibly even more disjointed than its predecessor. Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence is a creation of great beauty, intelligent thought that throws up some very interesting, sensible and above all engaging points on which to debate the nature of humanity, what constitutes being human? When are we deemed as being alive? However, for all the reasoned debate Ghost In The Shell 2 unfortunately follows and falls into the trap so many Eastern stories ( in particular many mangas and anime) do, which is an incoherent storyline, which proves the ultimate irony seeing as how this a film which engages your mind, you're forced to switch it off in places and just 'go with the flow'.Innocence is an extremely visual film, and you will be awed into watching from a seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques which to be frank makes Sky Blue look like the work of a preschooler. It is simply ravishing and you find yourself hooked intently and intensely to what is simply a blisteringly well constructed piece of animation, and is worth a viewing by all fans of the genre on this basis alone. But is that enough?Well, to be honest, no it is not. As with Sky Blue the animation was painstakingly created over a long period of time, and as with Sky Blue the plot suffered slightly for it. Yes the philosophy is interesting, poignant and it does make you think, this I am not denying, but it's sometimes thrown around complete uncontextualised, just for philosophy's sake. I'm not arguing against the introduction of philosophy and metaphysics into the medium of films, I'm all for it, but when characters are throwing around Descartes name like he's going out of fashion instead of developing what little plot there is within the film, it does tend to lend itself to the criticism that this film is for pubescents coming of age who wish to "expand their minds". Mamoru Oshii is an influential director and his works have always included a degree of philosophy, mostly he tends to tackle the constructs of humanity and reality and the link between the two, can one define another? are the two linked at all? can one survive without the other? However, the original Ghost In The Shell was philosophy crammed, and yes again the story had an air of incoherency about it, but the philosophy was not driving the narrative, the narrative was driving the philosophy, and this is where the sequel fails in its intent.Ghost In The Shell 2 is indeed impressive, but seeing as it was co-produced at the remarkable Studio Ghibli and was a "selection" for the Cannes film festival you can be forgiven for asking for something with a bit more bite to it. There are a great number of positives to take away from this experience, as the animation is impeccable, it is so sublime, it just makes it so fantastically easy to slip into the world and enjoy the feast, and yes a summary can't be made without a nod in the direction of the thought put into this film. However, If you'll forgive this rather audacious metaphor, think of this film as a sandwich, and all this wonderful philosophy provides the contents, the filler, the real taste to go inside this sandwich. Think of the most ridiculously packed sandwich you could possibly imagine, with everything on it, and then imagine no bread with which to hold it all together.