“Ghost in the Shell” is a bizarre, futuristic film with Scarlett Johansson’s character, Major, having her brain placed inside a robotic body, which looks quite human. In fact, she wears a tan, silicon bodysuit which gives her a nude look through several scenes of the film. She was hurt in an accident and so she was cyber-enhanced in order to place her “ghost” (or spirit) inside the robotic shell; hence, the title of the film. However, there is more to her past than meets the eye, and there are certain villains who don’t want her to know. One of the thoughts of the film, which is repeated, and is a good one, is that our memories don’t define us; rather, it is “what we do” that defines us.
A certain villain named Cutter (Peter Ferdinando) has been involved in acquiring people to turn into the cyber-enhanced beings, and Major’s only hope to survive and to learn about her past comes in the person of Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche). It is Dr. Ouelet who has brought Major to her present state, and Major intends to stop Cutter from doing any more harm to anyone else.
The film includes futuristic cities, technology, and vehicles such as a cool-looking “spider” tank. It does raise the question of how far one should go to save life and where we might end up at in the future. However, due to the nudity, which includes rear female nudity, and the violence of many, many people being shot and killed, we are unable to award the movie our Dove Family-Approved Seal.
