Ghost In The Shell

Starkers ScarJo cyborg.

- Andrew Osmond

At the beginning of Ghost In

The Shell, Scarlett Johansson wakes gasping into a new artificial body, and the script describes her as the first of her kind. But this Ghost is transparently unoriginal, its borrowings as naked as ScarJo’s cyborg as she slams her foes into concrete. Even if you’ve never seen the anime, you’ll be reminded of Minority Report, RoboCop and umpteen other futures past. But that doesn’t stop Ghost In The Shell being an enjoyable story and a colourful treat for the eyeballs.

Johansson’s amnesiac Major is told she was saved from death and recreated as a machine-human fusion. Her human brain controls a bodily “shell” that’s a model of speed and toughness. Now she must pay her dues by fighting terrorists as part of a security team, Section 9.

Partly shot in Hong Kong, the film’s set in a version of the city where giant holographic figures loom over skyscrapers. They recall the huge advertising screens in Blade Runner, plus the sensory overload of