Flattening The Curve PRESENTS: Ghost In The Shell SAC_2045

Now, as some friends have known that after completing the impressively mounted-if overlong fantasy prequel, The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance, the goal for me was to cut off the Netflix behemonth completely, as the service had become less and less a home for interesting cinema, and more a receptacle for mid-level long form stories with an often samey visual sheen. And despite my best efforts to cut that cord for myself, since friends and loved ones continue to subscribe, the months long announcement that my personal favorite anime and manga franchise would indeed be returning in a twelve episode event, well the current Stay At Home situation, felt like a stage was set for a brief return. Original Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex television series director and his team collaborating with mecha design legend, and prolific mocap CG fest director, Shinji Aramaki stoked me with both curiosity and nervousness. It’s a high wire risk that could surely sink a series beloved for its unusual levels of visual grit. So my coming back to the streaming service could be seen as a morbid move, especially sporting more youthful designs via longtime Behance and DeviantArt icon-turned character designer, Ilya Kuvshinov. This unique combination of elements reeked of risk for a multimedia franchise that has seen a number of them over the last decade.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Ghost In The Shell SAC_2045 is at best an interesting experiment featuring the further adventures of the Japan’s once legendary/notorious anti-cybercrime unit, Public Security Section 9; a team of heavily augmented and skilled agents tasked with the detective and military prowess to save the nation numerous times over, led by the fully prosthetic, Motoko Kusanagi, whom the team has long dubbed, The Major. Where the risks emerge on the story front, is in the opening crawl which describes the world falling into chaos mere years after the events of the 2006 SAC film, Solid State Society. Everything from governments collapsing, creating what is known as Sustainable War, or rather a global scavenger campaign for whatever remains as economies have all but completely dissolved. Our once very busy heroes, now unmoored by government oversight, is working overseas as a group of mercenaries, taking on patches of raiders throughout the Americas. Currently, their trip to my childhood background of PALM SPRINGS (jarring) pits them against teams of amateurs claiming to be fighting malevolent one-percenters. It is in these first five minutes that despite the sunny, clear skied backdrop reminiscent of Aramaki’s APPLESEED films, that my worry collided with a genuine curiosity at the series’ dramatic break from SAC’s twilight landscape often complimented by hard greys, and intense LEDs. It’d almost seem like a poor fit if this scenario didn’t feel like an inevitable consequence of the previous installments’ overload of unmanaged interconnectedness. It’s all been blown to hell, and Section 9 is still out there torn between attempting to pick up the pieces, and simple nostalgia for the wartime life.

While the team finds itself stalled in a barricaded part of the city, former member and still the mostly human detective, Togusa in Japan receives a call from the still kicking and now working for the Minister of the Interior, Daisuke Aramaki, who’s work with a new and very caucasian prime minister, seeks to locate and get the old band back together in the name of a new potential alliance with the American Empire. Togusa, since last we saw him is now divorced, the casualty of his workaholic ways as he attempts to find out what has happened to his former colleagues. All of this while The Major, Batou, Saito, and newly joined member, the appropriately named, Standard find themselves tumbling into a plot involving PMCs, fabled “good one percenters”, and a suited man in dark shades that feels like a far too late nod to Aramaki’s past. I say Aramaki’s past, and not the Wachowskis since this shady man-in-black character is much closer to the shadowy B.D. of Megazone 23 than to a certain Agent Smith., so it’s more of a cycle back..to the beginni- YEAH YOU GET IT.

And this is pretty much the deal throughout this initial season. I say initial since the ink has dried on a planned two-parter, with Aramaki taking over fully next time. Which still leaves me mildly nervous. Saying this as a longtime fan who is more than happy with the material that has come before. Particularly prior to Kazuchika Kise’s ARISE, which felt like a muddled overture to a mainstream viewership. SAC_2045, feels more authentic to the classic Stand Alone Complex experience, while wearing this occasionally awkward outfit that makes every character not a think tank doll-like and lifeless. Oh, and did we mention the return of the irrepressible, and hopelessly cool tachikomas? The cute cadre of badass tanks make a splash here as the medium change suits them perfectly, which was probably one of the biggest reasons for the transition. It’s just too bad they don’t really find much to do here except provide backup and comic relief from time to time.

A lot of SAC_2045, finds itself so mired in plot mechanics that it often neglects the more personal sides to our heroes, making this a more detached affair than is usual for the franchise. And even as the GiTS world is suddenly paying off almost two decades of story implying that human evolution has taken a dramatic turn, which is causing the strife at the center of things, the new series has a hard time pausing long enough to let us take it in. Perhaps where the Aramaki stuff hinders matters. His action is fantastic, but a huge part of what made the original Stand Alone Complex and 2nd Gig so powerful to me, was its ability to humanize the stakes of such technological advancement. Where upon the original manga by the one and only Masamune Shirow, presented a world that was at once overwhelming to the point of humorous, the Oshii helmed feature films rendered the world haunted and contemplative, while SAC television series fashioned the mythological landscape into one that is at once enthralling, thought-provoking, and ultimately wholly relatable.

With SAC_2045, the best we get is an action gamer’s playground version, which might work better as a one-off feature. But like most Netflix projects, continuously threatens to wear itself thin. so while it isn’t ARISE levels of flat, there is a lack of humanity on display that renders this incarnation a little lacking. And as giddy as I am to hear the old voice cast from the best incarnations back in fighting shape, the mask only leaves me longing for something more literate and thoughtful.

And as a finale note, while I still lament the loss of one Yoko Kanno as music composer powerhouse, the current Soundtrack via Nobuko Toda, is pretty engaging and is as musically diverse. Again, the problem being that the direction here despite the return of master scribes like Kamiyama and Dai Sato, there is a decided lack of depth to the proceedings, which is ironic considering the whole affair is attempting a three-dimensional approach. Again, as an experiment it’s an occasionally fun diversion, albeit a wildly unnecessary one.

It really is summer isn’t it?

Blockbuster it up, I guess.

And yes, despite all this I prefer it to the 2017 Hollywood film.

Lastly; If Purin Ezaki is what the future of Koukaku Kidotai holds, check please. .

War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017) Film Thoughts

It's been twenty-four hours since my personal screening of this third chapter, and that endless saw continues to haunt my mind; trilogies rarely land with any kind of grace. No matter how fondly we may look back, there's always something not quite three-legged table functional about a trifecta of chapters that perhaps underlies the often fatal flaw of film franchises; familiarity. As studios place increasing burdens upon filmmakers to outdo what has come before, some stories find themselves far more effective when the tension reaches a feverish point, often leaving the audience breathless. As obsessed as many of us may be about resolution, there may be an unspoken within regarding the unanswered question. The edge of the ramp. The moment where the floor drops out of existence, leaving us to grasp endlessly for our own answers. 

Which is a long way of saying that despite this initial paragraph, and what it seems to imply, Matt Reeves' second go-round at telling of the Caesar legend reaches its conclusion with grand emotional power, and a dire warning for contemporary humanity.

Several years have passed since the actions of Koba, a lone dissenter ape chose to wage war against humans in an act that dragged the once revolutionary leader, Caesar and his fellow simians into a brutal, neverending conflict. As the feared ape leader and his followers learn of a sanctuary further east, into a desert rich in resources, matters suddenly begin to look hopeful despite revelation of a rogue military clan hot on their heels. Hopes go triple tragic, when their home is ambushed late in the night, leaving Caesar's wife, Cordelia and his eldest son, Blue Eyes dead, and a near broken leader suddenly thirsting for the kind of vengeance he fought so hard to avoid. With only his youngest son, Cornelius at his side, Caesar decides to mobilize his apes to leave for the desert, while he himself seeks out the mysterious Colonel who murdered his family. Suddenly splintered from being the leader his people require, echoes of Koba haunt him, as he may never be able to escape a similar fate. Unwilling to let him go it alone, old friends, Maurice, Rocket, and Luca, choose to stay by his side to ensure that Cornelius still has a father when it is all over.

Soon into their path away from the rest, Caesar and companions meet both an escaped Zoo ape, and a mute young girl. Unsure of where these meetings will take them, fates ultimately lead everyone to the lair of the Alpha Omega, the Colonel's almost cult-like faction of extremists, seemingly bent on not only destroying Caesar and his kind once and for all, but anyone exhibiting a new wrinkle in the evolution of the Simian Virus that decimated the majority of the world. It is in this journey, it is also discovered that there are several apes who have turned their back on their kind in some faint hope that they may be spared. And upon further meeting with the hopelessly wayward Colonel, there is an air that even the remaining real military forces retain hope that a cure could be found, and that one day, they will descend upon him and his soldiers in an apocalyptic final showdown.

Matters have never been more dire for both ape and human.  

There simply aren't enough ways to properly express how shocking the dramatic success of this series has become. Taking familiar elements from the classic science fiction series of the past, and repurposing it for something far more sober, and perhaps even biblical, sounds like wishful thinking for film lovers who would love to revisit familiar wells, only to come back parched. But Reeves', since his incorporation into the series, has brought with him an almost God's eye approach to the material, often allowing these films to launch well beyond the almost cynical idea of making Rise, back in 2011. Not unlike Nolan, taking full rein of Warners' intentions of bringing Batman back from almost certain franchise death, and injecting an auteur's blood to the proceedings. Further proof lies in both the performances of all the talent involved, from motion capture, to live actor, to technical genius. What transpires as a result of every corner of the production, is a seamless case of mythmaking that will likely reward long after its theatrical run.

It's been six years since the original Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes presented us with technical wonders that merely scratched the surface of what was to come. And by Dawn, it was pretty clear that massive changes in cinema tech were in the works. But the achievements of War, are above and beyond some of the most awe inspiring I've ever witnessed on a large screen. Never for a moment is there a moment of being disconnected or pulled away. All that prevails, are the various ape characters, their expressions, and forms of communication with each other. It's the closest we've come to a near complete film without simple human speech. There are stretches here that are so bold, lingering with apes, pensive in the dark, gesturing to one another, changing allegiances, that it feels almost like a film made in a world of simians. 

But the real lasting legacy of these films will unsurprisingly lie with Andy Serkis, who further makes film history by taking Caesar into even more internal and complex territory by playing a classic revolutionary, now at odds with his own role in the tragedy that is transpiring. Having learned to communicate in a number of ways since he was young, and having possessed the know-how, charisma, and wisdom to bring his kind this far, is at last coming to terms with the reality that he may be no different than the rebellious ape who lit the fatal match. We see it all over his facial expressions and body language as he mulls staying with his people, or seek a personal vendetta. Not to mention his reactions to meeting the Colonel, and at last hearing of his plans, and reasons for them. It is sheer hubris in his eyes and brow that deliver that sense of revelation and understanding. Cesar, is both tragic figure, and classic hero in that he too is mired in the same moral fog that has infected much of humanity.

And representing humanity, are the Alpha Omega, a terrifying vision of humanity in its last breaths. Incapable of seeing the potential in cooperation. Fully aware of what fate awaits them, yet ready to lash out screaming at the world one last time before going out. Harrelson's Colonel, is a chiseled, hollow mold of a human, ready to destroy apes as well as his own kind in the name of what he deems his historical imperative. Unable to process that all sides are suffering, and that they'd likely have a better chance of survival with cooperation. However, with humans now slowly reverting to primitives, there seems to be no real way out but through to the bloody end. He and his troops are on a death ride, and while they're at it, choose to build an absurd wall to protect them from..what exactly? All while subjugating Caesar and his apes to treatment that evokes the slave era. It is a punishing vision of an America bereft of ideas, and death as savior. The deepest, darkest pit in a series that has long been famous for a lack of illumination. The kind of allegorical punch that only today could produce. This is the America we see more and more with each passing day. And it shouldn't be much of a surprise to see how this all transpires.

And while I contend that the dramatic momentum of this installment lacks the pivotal dramatic tension of the previous, there is a sense of natural finality that allows the drama to work like an almost spiritual magic trick. Classic science fiction provokes with visions of our world through a critical lens, and this film is no exception. But what War achieves over everything else in its powerful arsenal, is it allows us to carefully consider this disturbing time in our history, consider pause, and perhaps better understand how ideological purity is merely a human construct - a lapse of judgment.

And that together, we are truly strong.