The Major and Batou

[MatParker116]

http://screenrant.com/ghost-shell-movie-set-photos-scarlet-johansson-


Scarlett definitely looks the part and Pilou is some CGI away from not looking bad either. Will wait for a trailer before making a decision.

 

[madwarper]

So, they're going with a shorter hair cut from the movie, rather than a longer/ponytail from SAC. OK.
However, I'm going to reserve my judgement on Batou until I see a shot of him post-effects, because they would be rather remiss if they didn't do something to include his ocular implants, which is not evident in the above picture.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Takeshi Kitano is gonna be in it... That's as far as my interest goes for this movie.

 

[MatParker116]

So, they're going with a shorter hair cut from the movie, rather than a longer/ponytail from SAC. OK.
However, I'm going to reserve my judgement on Batou until I see a shot of him post-effects, because they would be rather remiss if they didn't do something to include his ocular implants, which is not evident in the above picture.

Something like that is probably next to impossible to pull off practically.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Still hoping this movie will be good.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

First shot I've seen of Batou and I'm mildly impressed. No doubt they'll CG his eyes and he'll definitely look the part.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

So, they're going with a shorter hair cut from the movie, rather than a longer/ponytail from SAC. OK.
However, I'm going to reserve my judgement on Batou until I see a shot of him post-effects, because they would be rather remiss if they didn't do something to include his ocular implants, which is not evident in the above picture.

Something like that is probably next to impossible to pull off practically.

For practical effects, it's not at all impossible, they've done tons of things like that in the past before CGI...

OT: I'll wait to see what the narrative is like... I'm already a bit sour on this for the white-washing they pulled to make the movie "westernized"... I.E. Palatable to white audiences... Nope at this point I'm almost dead certain they're going to miss all of the philosophical depth of Ghost in the Shell and reduce it to another action flick with no depth. Too many live action repackagings of classic franchises has made this seem absolute awful to my mind.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I'm worried because Scarlet is incapable of a role more advanced than dead-eyed, disinterested pout with a big ass. And that's a hell of a corpse glare she has going there.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

This is not going to end well for anyone involved. The sad part is that the studio is clearly aware of the problems with casting and lately the casting announcements have been Asian actors, but unfortunately it comes off like desperate damage control. This was doomed from before day one.

 

[Kolby Jack]

The problem was never a lack of Asians. A foreign adaptation doesn't need to have actors of the same ethnicity or be set in the same country. They should write it from their own point of view and background like the Japanese did rather than fail at replicating a culture they barely know. The stories of Ghost in the Shell can work in almost any industrialized city, just as the story of Infernal Affairs worked as well in Boston (The Departed). I like an adaptation that has an identity.

Not really. Japan is pretty central to the idea of Ghost in the Shell. The story is firmly rooted in Japanese politics, and the USA in that universe was split into three distinct countries (the one still named the USA being the weakest, least relevant of them). Changing the setting would change the entire dynamic by default, because instead of an elite team navigating stifling bureaucracy and corruption to keep one of the few actually stable post-war countries stable, it would just become a straight up dystopia. Not to mention they'd have to justify a ton of name changes (Motoko Kusanagi, Daisuke Aramaki, Ishikawa, Saito... the list goes on) or why there are a bunch of Japanese people working for a non-Japanese country. Fans would be displeased (more than they already are), and curious non-fans won't know the difference.

Honestly, Scarlett is a near dead-ringer for the Major, and that guy looks DAMN close to Batou (minus the eyes, which I hope will be included). It's always a tricky question when it comes to portraying anime characters, I suppose, because a lot of them don't look especially Japanese. There's a cold logic to marketing and I can hardly blame the studio for choosing a big name star over an unknown-outside-Japan Japanese actor in an effort to sell more tickets. And while I don't think the white washing was malicious or part of some racist agenda or attitude, it certainly could end up poisoning the well in the end if die-hard fans are the only ones who would actually end up liking the movie (which remains to be seen). I'm certainly okay with watching it as long as it gets some decent reviews.

 

[The Madman]

Ghost in the Shell is one of those few anime movies I really liked, so obviously I'm hoping this adaptation will be good as well. With that said I'm not exactly holding my breath either. For every solid Hollywood adaptation out there there's also a few dozen now forgotten terrible ones.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

For practical effects, it's not at all impossible, they've done tons of things like that in the past before CGI...

While true, any practical prosthetic that covers the eyes like Batou's cybernetics would, would probably also be pretty uncomfortable to act in, so I can understand why'd they opt to add them with cgi in post (assuming that is what they're doing).

 

[Scarim Coral]

Ok from those angle shot it doesn't look that bad but hey at least Batou look like Batou!

 

[09philj]

I'm worried because Scarlet is incapable of a role more advanced than dead-eyed, disinterested pout with a big ass. And that's a hell of a corpse glare she has going there.

That is probably a good thing for portraying the Major.

 

[Bobular]

I'm worried because Scarlet is incapable of a role more advanced than dead-eyed, disinterested pout with a big ass. And that's a hell of a corpse glare she has going there.

That is probably a good thing for portraying the Major.

Was going to say the same thing. I remember seeing something once that apparently in the original movie they purposely didn't animate any of the characters blinking, so a dead stare and maybe using computers to remove all blinks from the characters to make them seem more artificial will be a good thing for the movie.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Not really. Japan is pretty central to the idea of Ghost in the Shell. The story is firmly rooted in Japanese politics, and the USA in that universe was split into three distinct countries (the one still named the USA being the weakest, least relevant of them). Changing the setting would change the entire dynamic by default, because instead of an elite team navigating stifling bureaucracy and corruption to keep one of the few actually stable post-war countries stable, it would just become a straight up dystopia. Not to mention they'd have to justify a ton of name changes (Motoko Kusanagi, Daisuke Aramaki, Ishikawa, Saito... the list goes on) or why there are a bunch of Japanese people working for a non-Japanese country. Fans would be displeased (more than they already are), and curious non-fans won't know the difference.

Indeed, which is another thing that people trying to defend this keep missing. You're talking about a series wherein our current politics have radically changed and that Japan is once again a giant contributor on the world stage due to its technological innovations (during the time of the original manga's creation they were about two years away from the Bubble bursting). And then of course there are also the technological aspects like transhumanism, AI, identity of the human condition, etc. That'll be forgotten and it'll just be another shitty, C-grade Blade Runner wannabe.

I'm worried because Scarlet is incapable of a role more advanced than dead-eyed, disinterested pout with a big ass. And that's a hell of a corpse glare she has going there.

That is probably a good thing for portraying the Major.

Actually it isn't; the Major is very expressive in spite of her prosthetic body. Heck, she cracks jokes all the time and has that right amount of flippancy to come off as relaxed but not smug.