Comic Book review: Armor Wars (2015)

Technopolis, as its name implies, is a sprawling hyper-futuristic metro, where all citizens are forces to wear variants of the Iron Man armor to prevent themselves from contracting a lethal virus that was unleashed on the region many years prior. Tony Stark is resident baron, and often clashes with his brother Arno. James Rhodes is Tecnopolis’ designated Thor, wielding a giant hammer and shiny Asgardian-inspired mechanical suit. And young Kiri Oshiro and Lila Rhodes, both resourceful teens who know a thing or two about tinkering with and repurposing the tech of these armored suits, begin unraveling the mysteries surrounding the death of Kiri’s boyfriend Peter Urich, aka Spyder-Man.

James Rhodes, meanwhile, begins his own investigation into the death of Spyder-Man, suspecting that Kingpin Wilson Fisk might have some involvement. Meanwhile, Arno Stark begins sending reconnaissance troops like Stingray to scope out just what his brother Tony, Kiri, Lila, or anyone else who may have interacted with Spyder-Man are up to. These interwoven plot threads make for a decently compelling narrative, while also preventing the story from becoming too convoluted.

Armor Wars is a standout entry among the Secret Wars spinoffs for the manner in which it handles its processes of world-building. The constant threat of being exposed to the natural world paints an eerie world where humans grow to accept rocket-powered machinery as an extension of themselves. Armor Wars also offers a few really strong plot twists, while simultaneously avoiding playing on a scale too grandiose for its own coherence.

The theme of where man ends and machine begins is certainly common to Iron Man-centric tales, but it is fresh to see a large portion of the story through the eyes of youth Kiri and Lila. There are a couple of points where the story slows down more than is perhaps ideal for Armor Wars' overarching plot, pacing which would be better-suited for a series that is not limited to a five issue run. Overall, however, Armor Wars is an enjoyable read, a dark mystery driving toward an action-packed climax. Of all the Secret Wars spinoffs, Armor Wars performs as one of the best at keeping itself within manageable boundaries of narrative pacing and character development.

My rating: 8.25 (out of 10)

Comic Book review: Spider-man Noir

My review of Spider-man Noir. Written by David Hine and Fabrice Sapolsky, illustrated by Carmine Di Giandomenico.

My rating: 8.25 (out of 10)

Comic Book review: Moon Knight, Volumes One and Two

My review of volumes of one and two of Moon Knight, from the 2011-2012 series. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Alex Maleev.

My rating: 8 (out of 10)

PS2 review: Persona 4

It’s the start of a new school year, and a high school student has moved to the small town of Inaba to live with his uncle Dojima, a local detective, and young cousin Nanako. Shortly after his arrival, this high schooler learns of a few odd happenings around Inaba. First is the Midnight Channel, a static-laden television broadcast that seems to display the faces of certain locals on rainy nights as the clock strikes twelve. Second is a series of murders that, while involving victims who were seemingly unrelated, may be connected through their faces appearing on the Midnight Channel prior to their deaths. After making a few friends among his classmates, this newcomer decides to investigate the murders, utilizing a newfound ability to enter a world behind the television screen and call upon the Arcana powers of Personas.

The ability to utilize multiple Personas and their varying powers and skill sets is what sets the player-controlled protagonist apart from his comrades – you, the player, are able to adjust your own play style on the fly. You are only able to take three others with you into any given dungeon crawling session, and while some are better suited as healers, physical fighters, or stat boosters, each tends to specialize in at least one type of magic. In the case of Yukiko, her Persona hits foes with fire attacks and can also heal up party members, while Kanji is more focused on physical attacks at the cost of some lost HP, as well as electric attacks and a couple of boosts to your party members’ stats. In order to best compliment the offerings that your companions bring to the fight, you will need to visit the ethereal plane of the Velvet Room and fuse Personas that you collect from defeating enemies. Each Persona is attributed to a different symbol of the Arcana, such as Death, the Tower, the High Priestess, the Hierophant, the Chariot, the Lovers, and so forth. Building up your social links in-between your dungeon crawling sessions is key to earning experience bonuses when fusing these Personas and granting your allies a greater range of abilities in battle.

Maxing out every social link in a single playthrough is impossible, so it’s up to your own discretion in determining which social links you wish to pursue. Those associated with jobs and tasks around town typically take less time to complete, though the bonuses earned from your party members’ social links are always more significant, making the extra time it takes to complete them all the more worthwhile. Social links with some of the female party members and classmates can also open the door to romantic pursuits, though these are not necessary and you can opt to remain as friends – it will simply prompt altered and extra dialogue segments after you have cemented an intimate relationship.

With the option to participate in sports and school clubs, take up part-time jobs, spend time fishing, tutoring, and so on, no two playthroughs will be quite the same. The large amount of downtime in-between dungeons is one of the elements that sets Persona 4 so far apart from many of its JRPG contemporaries. Which of these tasks you decide to take up will boost your skills in Understanding, Diligence, Courage, Expression, and Knowledge, and jobs will net you extra cash depending on how devoted or focused you are. Meanwhile, the dungeon exploration segments are reminiscent of some of the older Final Fantasy titles, with multiple sprawling floors of interconnected chambers and hallways, and enemies that become tougher the higher you climb. While the earliest of dungeons are host to classic fantasy aesthetics, later locales includes a sauna, an anime-style secret base, and a metaphysical 8-bit video game.

Each dungeon concludes with a challenging boss fight, though each boss has a relatively predictable pattern of attacks, buffs, and defensive options. While these could not be more different from one boss encounter to the next, you may find that being beaten the first time you attempt to take on one of these powerful foes will grant you a more solid plan of attack with the next attempt. Later dungeons include a mid-dungeon miniboss encounter, while every dungeon includes two kinds of chests – small chests, which often contain health and magic-replenishing items, and golden chests, which must be opened with keys that are sometimes earned from fallen enemies. These golden chests often contain weapons or armor, as well as rare and valuable materials for crafting at the local metalsmith.

Persona 4’s approach to the dungeons is highly unorthodox, as it is not required that you complete each dungeon in a single attempt. Rather, you can tackle any given dungeon over the course of multiple days (or multiple weeks, even). The only risk you run of seeing a ‘game over’ screen is if you do not reach the end of a dungeon by the time heavy rain and the fog that follows are to set in, which would effectively see to the death of whoever has been thrown into the television world at that time due to the enemy shadows growing overly powerful.

However, Persona 4 suffers from an archaic save system, in that the only places you are able to save the game are the hubworld area within the Midnight Channel, and the final floor preceding each dungeon’s boss fight. And while it would be fine and dandy to save after you’ve cleared each and every floor of each dungeon, the amount of money you would waste on the Goho-M items which warp your party back to the dungeon entrance would prove ludicrous in the long run. This certainly adds an old-school RPG challenge factor to the combat-heavy portions of the game, but it can also be quite frustrating, especially in the earlier dungeons when you have a less concrete idea of how tough the enemies that lie in wait ahead are going to be.

When you do square off against enemy Shadows, it is important to learn what sorts of attacks each is weak to, as well as what your own Personas a weak against. Hitting an enemy with whatever they are weak to will net you both a critical hit and an immediate bonus strike to either finish them off or to focus your efforts on another enemy on the field. Ocassionally, your allies will request to perform a strong physical attack, which will always end in a critical hit. These criticals, as well as the ones earned from exploiting an enemy’s weakness, will cause them to fall down. If all foes in a fight have fallen, your party can then band together to pile on in a cartoonish cloud of dust and sound effect symbols, dishing out a heaping helping of damage that frequently finishes those enemies off.

After your newest ally faces their shadow self at the conclusion of a dungeon, they will begin to open up to you about their insecurities and personal struggles. For some, these are more commonplace pressures of feeling the need to please family and friends, or adhere to certain expectations that others have for them. In a few cases, the game takes a very twenty-first century approach to deconstructing characters by exploring their confusions regarding sexuality and their own gender identities. Persona 4 does a magnificent job of tackling these in a pointed manner while still maintaining its often cartoonish and comedic routine, which goes a long way in advancing classic staples of the JRPG subgenre, hand-in-hand with the highly-creative dungeon designs and emphasis on non-combat subplots and game mechanics.

While Persona 4 does well to consistently deliver generally high quality and quantity for the sum of its parts, the endgame stretch does fall victim to a streamlining process that robs the experience of some of its quirky spirit as well as the previously high degree of interactivity and player freedom. The last few hours of the game effectively become a series of pre-scripted dialogue sequences, some of which can result in a ‘bad ending’ cutscene if selected improperly. The motives for key individuals will also likely leave a great number of devotees disappointed, given how uninspired and plain stupid they are both in the context of the game world and as general driving forces for character development were they to be applied to a story in any other medium. That said, most of the party members weave stories that pan out in rewarding manners, so while the experience does see some significant falters later on, the journey taken there is, by and large, an excellent modernized spin on the fundamentals of classic JRPGs.

My rating: 8.75 (out of 10)

XBLA review: The Wolf Among Us

Following up on their success with The Walking Dead video game, Telltale has chosen to tackle another comic book property in the form of a precursor to Fables. Titled The Wolf Among Us, the game is built upon the same engine used for The Walking Dead, and thus requires players make time-sensitive decisions and responses that will alter the way the citizens of Fabletown react to them. The story is centered on Bigby Wolf, sheriff to the magical folk now living in hiding among the commoners (or ‘mundies’, as they are referred to in-game) of New York. What begins as a visit to the Woodsman’s apartment to break up a domestic disturbance quickly leads to something much larger – murder, hired thugs, and magical artifacts simultaneously detract and aid Bigby’s mission to seek out the truth behind what is really going on in the shadows of Fabletown.

The true nature of the story is, intelligently, left somewhat ambiguous until the final two episodes. While the ultimate payoff is not the most shocking or creative spin on a detective tale, the journey there is certainly worth the trouble. What makes The Wolf Among Us so noticeably different from The Walking Dead is that it is, first and foremost, a detective story, and as such, Bigby will spend most of his time digging through desk drawers and basements for evidence, as well as gathering clues from Fables like Ichabod Crane, Beauty, and her lover Beast. However, there is plenty of action to be found, and when Bigby find himself in a scuffle with a drunk and belligerent Woodsman or chasing Tweedledee and Tweedledum through back alleys, acute attention to button prompts may provide Bigby with a means to more quickly gain the upper hand on a situation.

The art style is similarly cel-shaded as The Walking Dead, with pale color palettes filling in the background, and thick outlines around most characters and objects. Yet, it isn’t overbearing. Rather, the art style is perhaps even better suited for the likes of mythical beasts in a contemporary urban setting than small groups of survivors attempting to outlast the undead. The soundtrack is less extravagant, opting for soft, eerie chords during investigative sequences, and saving the boisterous action themes for – well – the aforementioned fights and chases.

If there is one noteworthy downside to the presentation factor, it is that the individual episodes have a tendency to lag at odd points, sometimes messing up your ability to quickly react to button prompts – a tad strange, considering it is a single-player experience released in episodic format. One would hope that these occurrences would become less frequent/nonexistent in later chapters, but alas, they remain a small blemish even in episode five. A pity, considering how much these hiccups distract the immersion otherwise perpetuated by the strong balance of fantasy lore and modern jargon in the writing and voice acting.

As a whole, the series is paced very well, with each episode clocking in at roughly an hour-and-a-half. Sure, the introductory episode serves primarily to set the stage for all that is to come, but it too has its fair share of intrigue and intense standoffs. Admittedly, the finale, while technically about the same length as the other episodes, feels as if it is cut a bit short, and another half-hour could have easily been added on to better cushion the endgame as well as provide greater closure for a couple of characters. Still, the series does well to close its final chapter on a note that both seals the current story and opens up enough possibilities for future seasons.

My rating 7.5 (out of 10)

The Wolf Among Us journal - entry three

Similar in length to the second installment, episode three, titled ‘A Crooked Mile’, effectively plays a dual role. The first half is a direct continuation of the events of episode two, picking up with Crane’s sudden absence and Bigby furiously trying to figure out just how involved the acting mayor is in the string of dark events which have fallen upon Fabletown. ‘A Crooked Mile’ is less about exploring the fantasy nature and history of the fables themselves, opting instead to hone in on a few key characters to progress the story. Toad is absent from this episode entirely, while Grendel, the Woodsman, and Georgie all take side seats to grant Bigby, Snow White, Bluebeard, and a couple new characters more time in the spotlight.

There is also a sense throughout the first half of episode three that Telltale wants to wrap up a couple plot lines that ran through the previous episodes. This is welcome, as the plotlines in question were really only ever present to set the stage for larger things to come, something very much evidenced by the way episode three concludes. New faces and tense situations seem to imply much is in store from episode four, and the fact that episode three ends with such a bang should place plenty of pressure on Telltale to make the fourth entry just as good.

The Wolf Among Us journal - entry two

I'd be a liar if said I wasn't surprised that the second episode of The Wolf Among Us ended up being shorter than the first. In the case of The Walking Dead, the formatting was the other way around, and I guess I expected a similar situation here - that the first episode would lay the groundwork and familiarize players with the story and gameplay, while the installments that followed would expand upon that, each being longer/bigger than the one before it (or at least, considerably more substantial than the first episode). It's not to say that the second episode of The Wolf Among Us was disappointing per se, it's just that I expected it to run almost twice as long as it did.

Still, the pacing was wonderful, and the plot twists intriguing. I suppose it's really a matter of quality over quantity with a fantasy world detective story like The Wolf Among Us, and to that end I don't have any major complaints with the way the second episode was handled. I do have a minor complaint, however, and that is the 'next time on The Wolf Among Us' preview at the conclusion of episode one giving away far too much. It showed snippets of practically every major event, and while it didn't spoil the nitty-gritty details of episode two's plot developments, I would have appreciated more surprises. Hopefully episode three delivers better on that.

The Wolf Among Us journal - entry one

I got my first taste of Telltale Games’ episodic game format last year, when I played through the first two episodes of The Walking Dead at a friend’s house. It was surprisingly engaging, considering it was essentially an interactive story more than a full-fledged game. It harkened back to the old point-and-click PC titles, with quick-time events sprinkled throughout to push the survival horror angle more obviously befitting The Walking Dead. Its cel-shaded comic book styling was gorgeous, but when I heard about their follow-up series, The Wolf Among Us, I was initially skeptical. It seemed too easy a cash-in, and I wondered how they could successfully pull of a story from the Fables world with the gameplay elements cemented in The Walking Dead.

Having just wrapped up my playthrough of the first episode of The Wolf Among Us, I can say that Telltale Games has handled this fantasy property just as well as their first installment of the zombie survival tale that made them a household name. Fables is a very different tale to tell than that of The Walking Dead, for a number of obvious reasons, and Telltale seems to have taken that very much into account with the way they have chosen to push the detective angle of Bigby Wolf’s attempts to piece together a string of crimes carried out against his fellow fables. The Wolf Among Us pits Bigby in some rather intense scuffles with other powerful fables, but the majority of this first episode focuses on dialogue selections, scouring crime scenes for clues, and narrowing down the big bad wolf’s field of suspects.

The colorfully decaying streets of New York City in the The Wolf Among Us look every bit as good as the drab and dismal forests, farmland, and ghost towns of The Walking Dead – a testament not only to Telltale’s ability in crafting these worlds, but to the cel-shaded graphics carried over to this new game as well. The accents the characters bear, their mannerisms, and their classical fairy tale origins all culminate into one wonderfully immersive cast. It’s a truly impressive feat that a single episode that runs less than two hours can set the stage for a fantasy world and sell it so well to someone like myself who is only passingly familiar with the comic book source material. In fact, The Wolf Among Us does perhaps better to pack in so much quality in that brief time period than most of the triple-A titles I played during the last year.

Now, that is not to say that the game is perfect – there are some current hiccups with the season pass not granting people immediate access to the second episode. I also noticed a few instances of lag during the action segments, which are arguably the most crucial moments for delivering a quick response. Still, it’s nice to see that developers in this day and age can deliver high-quality games without creating an overly-complex system of gameplay or charging full retail price for their product.

25 Days of Anime - #8: Darker Than Black

Ten years before the start of the anime, two zones known as Hell's Gate and Heaven's Gate opened and caused the emergence of Contractors, humans with limited superpowers. These superhuman Contractors are not the jack-of-all-trades types like comic-book icons, but instead are granted use of one specific power (some more powerful - and arguably more practical - than others). Each Contractor must pay a price through some regular habit, even if it is something as strange as folding the corner of each page in a book or eating dandelions.

Most Contractors view themselves as separate from humans - not just because of their powers, but also due to their logic-driven nature. Contractors rarely show genuine emotion, and some consider themselves superior to humans. But just because they all share similar traits does not mean they all serve the same cause. Some Contractors act in the interest of their own greed or power bids, others operate solo, doing their best to stay out of the spotlight. Lead protagonist Hei works for a mysterious organization known as the Syndicate in hopes that he can find out what happened to his sister all those years ago when the gates open.

Hei works alongside three others. Mao is a fellow contractor whose ability to control other bodies left him in control of a cat after his original human body was lost. Though he is not of much use in a fight, his previous experiences are something he hopes will serve Hei well, even if Hei chooses to ignore his advice at times. Yin is a Doll - a being that is as semi-human as a Contractor - bearing the appearance of a young woman and incapable of expressing emotion. Huang is a human whose past investigations found him caught up in the Syndicate's affairs. His perspective is perhaps the most interesting (once the show gives further back story on Huang), as he does not care much for Contractors and has effectively been forced to work for the Syndicate.

Darker Than Black's storytelling method is an interesting one, as it spends plenty of time balancing present-day events as they unfold with Hei's past. One of the earliest Contractors of interest to Hei that comes onto the scene is Havoc, who was also involved in the business regarding Heaven's Gate. Havoc was one of the most feared Contractors of all, and Hei believes she may know something about what happened to his sister. Also a major point that comes into play is Hei's brief interactions with police officer Misaki Kirihara, who is tasked with investigating cases concerning Contractors. As each Contractor has a star that correlates to them in the night sky, it isn't terribly difficult for Kirihara and her colleagues to keep track of how many Contractors are out there. The challenge is figuring out which star belongs to which contractor, as well as who these contractors actually are. And since Hei always wears a mask when on a mission, he has earned himself two other names - his official designation "BK-201" and his nickname "The Black Reaper", the latter of which is a nod to his skill and efficiency as a Contractor.

The story of Darker Than Black is concerned first and foremost with Hei, and his time in the spotlight increases late in the show. That said, the anime does well to sufficiently explain who his allies and enemies are, as well as what importance each of them has to the tale at large. The series presents an interesting blend of superhero-style conflict with a detective story, as there are a number of factions all gradually honing in on Hell's Gate in Tokyo. Darker Than Black presents a great balance of the stylized action with believable consequences, and alien abilities within a real and practical setting.

25 Days of Anime - #12: Paranoia Agent

A dark look into the inner workings of the human mind, Paranoia Agent is set in a localized area of Tokyo. It focuses on a small circle of individuals and the way in which they interact with one another, whether consciously or not. The story kicks off with an incident involving a young woman being attacked by a roller skating assailant wielding a bent golden baseball bat. As word of this curious case spreads throughout the immediate community, people begin to come up with their own impressions of the roller skating kid, and dub him "Lil' Slugger".

The cast of Paranoia Agent is an unusual one, to be sure. A split-personality prostitute, a duo of detectives, a sleazy journalist, and a popular middle school student are just a few of the faces that get wrapped up in the rumors surrounding Lil' Slugger. As more people come to hear about the initial attack, they begin to weave tales of their own, claiming he was spotted as such and such place and has odd behavioral tendencies. The more time these characters spend fixating on who the real Lil' Slugger is, the more their perception of reality is altered in accordance with it. One of the detectives chooses to view the case as a battle of might and monsters, while others are less extreme but may lead them to uncover dark truths about themselves or their friends and family.

Because the presentations of all these different visions of Lil' Slugger lack much in the way of concrete evidence, the series does as much to mess with the minds of the characters as it does to mess with the minds of viewers. Each episode ends with more and more possibilities presented to the audience as to the nature of the case, making absolute truth less and less certain. It's a dark and methodical series, despite the aforementioned descent into near-chaos. There are false leads and subplots abound, making the entire viewing experience a most unusual, yet thoroughly satisfying modern detective tale.

25 Days of Anime - #18: Death Note

This modern detective story - one intense game of cat and mouse - has some very high stakes. The Death Note, a mythical notebook which allows users to kill any individual whose name and face they know, has fallen into the world of mortals. Ryuk, a Shinigami (God of death) grew bored with his life in the dying otherworldly realm of his kin, and sent the Death Note on its way. It is picked up by one Light Yagami, a high school student who believes he can use it to carry out his own vision of justice (which becomes arguably more twisted as the series progresses).

Every person and every event in the anime plays by a set of rules. The Death Note requires the user know both the actual name and the physical appearance of a victim, otherwise it will not work. Should the user not specify a means of death, the victim will simply die of a heart attack shortly after their name has been recorded. The user can bargain with their Shinigami partner to gain use of eyes which allow them to see the names of every person on Earth as well as their remaining lifespan, but the cost is steep - they must sacrifice half of their own remaining life, regardless of whether that period is measured in years or days. And when all is said and done, a Death Note user will not be allowed to die - instead, their name will be recorded in the Shinigami's own Death Note and said human will cease to exist on any plane of reality.

Rules are also in place for each character. While Light does make use of the Death Note, his initial plan is to only kill criminals, starting off with those that commit serious crimes. Once people begin to take notice of this trend, suspicions arise from both the public and police forces as to who might be the individual responsible for these deaths. Now widely referred to as 'Kira', Light takes extra precautions to hide the Death Note in a safe location, carries spare pages with him whenever he leaves home, and times his killings according to his daily schedule. All of this presents an intriguing prospect for L, the world's greatest detective. L too plays by a specific set of rules - he can never entirely trust anyone but himself, but he does use simple processes of elimination to hunt down Kira and hopefully smoke him out of hiding. As one of his first actions in challenging Kira's reign of terror, L dupes him into believing a localized broadcast is happening worldwide, leading Light to kill a man posing as L and immediately narrowing the search radius down to the Tokyo area based on the previous information L had gathered on Kira's killings.

Light and L are very similar, and at the same time strikingly different characters. Light believes he is exacting justice, but L believes he is in fact a mass murderer. Light is willing to manipulate others - not just through use of the Death Note, but also by toying with their emotions - whereas L makes it clear to his loyal task force members just what sort of dangers lie ahead should they choose to stick with him for the remainder of the investigation. Both plan every course of action a few steps ahead, though it seems L has many alternative plans prepared early on, whereas Light has a learning curve to overcome with regards to his familiarities with the Death Note. The rest of the cast is thoroughly entertaining in their involvement in the Kira investigation, but really Light and L are the two who make this series as enjoyable as it is. The combination of modern-day detective tale and a few mythical elements makes for a dark and tense case that throws many twists before it is resolved.

Anime review: Ghost in the Shell

Among the classic anime that I wanted to watch this year was Ghost in the Shell, a film that is well-known for inspiring the Matrix films, but has earned a strong fan following all its own. So strong, in fact, that the Ghost in the Shell story has since expanded into one sequel film, two seasons of Stand Alone Complex, and a few more films tied into that series. Taking into account how important many considered the original Ghost in the Shell to be to the anime medium for the day of its release, as well as my own fascination with the sci-fi genre, it seemed quite clear that this film would be a must-watch for me.

Ghost in the Shell is set in a futuristic city where practically every human is part machine, thanks to the ghost system that allows for instant brainwave communications. The story follows the three squadmates Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, and Ishikawa, as they try to unravel the mystery of someone or something known as the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master is hacking into the ghosts of various people and causing them to act on its behalf, hacking into terminals and affecting other people in turn. To that end, the first half of the film is very much as suspenseful detective caper, with frequent chase scenes providing the action.

The story only ever concerns itself with one major theme, which is the concept of where man and machine are distinguishable from one another. It's not a wildly original theme, considering how many science fiction works prior to Ghost in the Shell concerned themselves with the same questions raised herein. It is good that Ghost in the Shell maintains its focus throughout - it explores this idea almost exclusively through the eyes of the three main characters, and as such the film provides a very clear sense of their experiences with the issues raised regarding it. But in turn, there are practically no other true characters to speak of. Anyone else that makes an appearance in the film - save for the Puppet Master - is simply a plot device wearing a face. None of the "minor characters" see any development, and most only earn a few minutes of screen time.

The soundtrack is not particularly memorable, though its style rings very close to the company of Akira, another prominent sci-fi anime classic, as both utilize a combination of old orient sounds with industrial techno music. The animation is really impressive when Kusanagi and Batou head to the outskirts of town. The attention to detail and vivid colors in that scene are very pleasing to the eyes. When they return to the city center, however, blue and grey skyscrapers don't exactly present the most exciting backdrop.

Characters move very fluidly during fight scenes and chases. But during conversation, they are stoic and stiff. On the one hand, this makes sense, given the fact that Kusanagi and Batou are largely comprised of robotic parts. But their blank stares and basic open-close jaw motions prove quite boring after a while. There is also a lot of nudity throughout the film, which rarely feels cohesive with the direction of the plot. There's no symbolism associated with it like in Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's nudity for the sake of coming across as edgy.

While the aforementioned theme of the increasingly blurred lines between man and machine proves easily the best part of Ghost in the Shell, its presentation does not hold a candle to the way in which other works like I, Robot or even The Matrix approach it. Ghost in the Shell covers familiar ideas, and only at their most basic levels. The film also leaves nearly every question it raises unanswered. Just when Kusanagi's story is getting really good, the film comes to an abrupt halt. As a concept, Ghost in the Shell is kind of cool. As a full-fledged film, Ghost in the Shell is incomplete and behind the times, even for its original 1995 release.

My rating: 6.5 (out of 10)