I really loved Ghost in the Shell. With stunning visuals and action it explores the question of what it means to be human. Yes there are some similarities to blade runner, some of the visuals and bits of the soundtrack are reminiscent.
One thing I should mention is the race of the actors. Some people who don’t know the Japanese culture or this specific genre will say this is another case of white people playing another race. The film’s characters are the same as they were in the original Anime. This is not unusual for Manga and Anime. It is not unusual for there to be no characters in a book or video that you could identify as Japanese. Heck if anyone is ‘appropriating a culture’ it is the Japanese and it started at least 30 years ago.
The city is like the city in Blade Runner taken to the logical extreme with holograms everywhere. Even the people on the street that are selling things have holographic advertisements. I really loved the Taxi you see for a few seconds. It’s covered with advertisement holograms.
Scarlett Johansen is the star and she is extremely good in the role. The way she uses her body to show her separation from others and confusion is very good. Basically she was a young woman who had her brain cut out of her body and put into a synthetic robot. Hence the title Ghost in the Shell. I’m not going to get into spoilers because I would like you to see the Movie.
I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Anime or intellectual Science Fiction.
I made a little animation of the logo for the original Anime take a look.