Ghost In The Shell Review: 8 Ups & 4 Downs

3. Excellent Pacing

Hands up: who gets exhausted by 130-150 minute blockbusters? They feel like an increasing commodity in the Hollywood sphere, but there are very few stories that can't be ably told inside of two-ish hours, so it's refreshing that GITS strips away the narrative bloat and clocks in at a very reasonable 107 minutes.

In terms of actual pacing, the film also does a great job balancing its dialogue-driven scenes (exposition-heavy though they sometimes are) and the stylish action, which is less sustained than you might expect, but basically peppered throughout instead.

It's unlikely you'll be bored or wish the movie would just get to where it's going, because it doesn't screw around from the get-go and is only 25 minutes longer than the rather snappy anime.