Ghost In The Shell: 10 Big Talking Points From The Trailer
There's a Shell of a lot to discuss.
The Ghost In The Shell anime blew minds back in 1995 with its mix of stunning visuals, cool action scenes and thoughtful sci-fi. It also showed Western audiences anime could be about more than gratuitous gore, nudity and bad English dubs. It was praised by the likes of James Cameron, and the cyberpunk aesthetic was a notable influence on live-action fare like The Matrix Trilogy and AI: Artificial Intelligence.
Of course talk of a live action adaptation quickly emerged, but surprisingly it took more than twenty years for a glossy Hollywood version to emerge. After months of controversy over casting and teaser images, a trailer has arrived and left fans and newcomers with plenty to dissect.
The reaction has been divided for sure, so it’s hard to know if Ghost In The Shell will mark the beginning of the next big action franchise, or be yet another embarrassing live action version of a classic anime series. That said, let's look at some of the major talking points so far.
10. Scarlett Johansson Is The Female Action Hero We Desperately Need
There’s a depressing lack of female action stars in mainstream cinema, but Scarlett Johansson seems intent on helping fix that. She’s proven to be a major asset to the MCU, where Black Widow has provided support and ass-kickings in equal measure. Johansson also helped Lucy on its way to being a huge hit, despite the strange premise.
So it’s not much of a shock she was chosen for the lead, since Hollywood likes to make safe bets. The trailer shows her looking supremely comfortable firing machine guns and throwing punches, while also have the acting chops needed to draw us into The Major’s headspace.
If the movie is a hit hopefully it will prove to studios female led action vehicles can be a thing, and that Kevin Feige needs to greenlight that solo Black Widow movie sharpish.