Scarlett Johansson signs on to star in Dreamworks' 'Ghost in the Shell'

Ghost X

Ghost X

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Having spent the last 1.5 hours stewing about how much I hate this film being made, I'll just get to my commentary on the cast selection, since I have homework to do :monster:.

Not knowing much else about Takeshi, he at least visually suits the role. Johannson has played many similar roles to that of a Kusanagi-like personality, but I've never seen anything gritty enough from her, and I simply can't imagine her as Kusanagi :P. I'd need to see Asbæk in full Batou get-up, before I'm confident. There's a slight resemblance, and I'm sure prosthetics could fix up the rest, but still. I fear what his voice is going to be like too. A re-imagining of Batou would not be Batou, it'd be someone else who coincidentally has his name :P.
 
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Harbinger O Great Justice
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As a little background about Beat Takeshi (aka Takeshi Kitano), he's not just an actor, but he's also a director. I think that he does really well insofar as the "guy in charge" role goes. I've got high hopes that he can pull off the part of Aramaki that takes no shit and can count on his team for anything, that's so well detailed in the SAC series – especially when it looks like Aramaki is just throwing the team to the wolves and expects them to survive, while knowing when to hold his tongue and when to absolutely unload on his political adversaries.

Here's a trailer of his second film that he directed and acts in from 2012.





The film's Director, Rupert Sander is really just known for Snow White & the Huntsman (which, despite your opinion on its actors/story is really beautifully shot, especially insofar as knowing how to capture action & emotion is concerned).

I'd be willing to bet that the film's budget is mostly being assembled from the strength of the IP itself and Scarlett Johansson's presence as the Major, because of how Film Funding works. Also, for a little more detail on what hito mentioned earler: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (the director of Studio IG, and a Producer/Executive Producer of all the GitS anime) is an Executive Producer on this, which hopefully adds some additional confidence.

What is worth noting is that, despite Scarlett Johansson being the main "Hollywood" face driving the money machine here, they don't seem to just be going for a strictly Hollywood-only, white cast like they could've, and most Hollywood films do. Hell, John Hurt could've played a very capable and visually accurate version of Aramaki in that world, but instead, they're going to a rather well-known Japanese actor instead. Why I point this out is that I think that it points to them knowing that they HAVE to play the film funding game a little bit, but they're also looking to genuinely make a movie that is true to Ghost in the Shell, and not just Dragonball Evolution-ing it up.

I, for one, am really interested in seeing Ghost in the Shell manage to have a live-action adaptation that – while it might not be exactly the same as any of its various anime/manga incarnations – does a really solid job of making it work in giving us a 'real" version of both the setting and the team, and right now it feels like this is going in the right direction for that to happen.




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Octo

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They should have cast Carrie-Anne Moss, y'know given that the Matrix plagarised huge chunks of GITS. :monster:
 
Hisako

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Takeshi Kitano is a surprisingly fuckin' strong casting point as fuck for Aramaki, dude's metal as fuck
 
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

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Strangelove

Strangelove

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hitoshura
yes that is exactly the look i was thinking of but couldn't think of the name to google it, something with a more clearly defined/harder edge

next thing you know we'll be seeing batou with floppy 90s-hugh-grant hair
 
Octo

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"Graduated bob" :monster:

I mean in the manga and a few other things it's a little more choppy looking - cos I guess perfectly combed hair is hard to maintain when one is doing backflips etc but the overall impression is that it's pretty thick hair.

And....Batou with hugh grant hair is just....*cringe*

Dunno what they're gonna do with Togusa and his mullet - which I actually liked on him, kind of suited his personality. Hope they at least keep it longish.
 
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Harbinger O Great Justice
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I am still of the mindset that they're gonna do this justice, and at least it seems like they've got a good look down (even if her hair is flatter than mine with that cut), but it does look more synthetic than normal hair, which I do kinda dig…




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Ryushikaze

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As mentioned on Facebook, Scarjo isn't clicking for me as the Major. I think she'd be perfect for another Shirow Heroine (Namely Deunan Knute), but she's not the right fit for Kusanagi. And part of it is that she's not Japanese (not that she's been racebent, more that being Japanese is central to the Major's self-identity), but that's not all of it?

Just from that still image, ignoring the hair, her posture just seems a bit wrong.
 
Blade

Blade

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I honestly lost track of most of the GitS saga, so which part of it is this "movie" going to cover, anyway?
 
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Harbinger O Great Justice
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Stand Alone Complex, specifically the Laughing Man is the main story that it looks like the film is focusing on.




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Tashasaurous

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Think I remember seeing the anime version movie of it years ago, but I only remember certain parts of the film and I wasn't too keen on it.
 
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Seeeeeeems weird, and I'm glad that if it was a thing that they decided against it (since all the official statements seem to be, "Nope nope nope.").




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Harbinger O Great Justice
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(Because film funding reasons. Movies that aren't made by a big studio and THEN cast, basically pre-sell the movie to distributors based on star power, and things. My earlier link is all about this, actually)




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Cthulhu

Cthulhu

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Yop
AvecAloes said:
....if they felt the need to make her appear more Asian, why not just cast an Asian actress???
Click to expand...

Because it's an American movie for American audiences by an American country; name me at least three east / southeast asian actrices that have a name that would draw at least as much people to cinemas as Johansson.

I don't think whitewashing or racism is the issue; commercial interests are the issue, which in turn cause whitewashing/racial issues. If that makes any sense.
 
AvecAloes

AvecAloes

Donator
Yeah, it does make sense. In this case, if they were to have gone through with the digitally enhancements to make her appear more Asian, would that really have been much different from
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?

Now before you get your panties in a bunch (collective you, not you, Yop), of course I know that there's something of a difference. Mr. Yunioshi was played for laughs. But doesn't that almost make "yellow face"ing ScarJo for a serious role a little worse?

I know it's irrelevant, as they decided against it, but....why even consider it?
 
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