Even better than the first one, which is very difficult to overcome.I 'll begin to highlight two little flaws (if we can call it that way): 1- Some of the philosophical quotes in the movie could be a bit misplaced. The characters seems to be compelled to quote in an almost steady manner. Anyway, we have to keep in mind this is a very philosophical film in many ways, with a remarkable psychological burden. 2- Being a masterpiece, the movie is too short. Just 100mn. is not enough to recreate oneself with that beautiful imagery and thorough substance.Having said that, this movie goes beyond perfection. And i'm not talking about the amazing music or the astonishing visuals. I'm talking about the serious, accurate, transcendent, intelligent plot/script.In some way is like a mind-blowing trip with many different layers of reality. At a certain point, the viewer does not know in which of them he is. The question has therefore arisen, as to whether we really know where are we heading to, about computer applications in the internet world.10/10

I am not a card carrying anime fan but I like the best of what all genres of film have to offer. Ghost 2 is a mesmerizing visual feast garnished with the best dialog I have ever witnessed in anime. The beauty of this movie is that it does not spoon-feed anything to the viewer. The plot is complicated but can be followed effortlessly. I saw a review that said the plot was murky. I don't understand why a viewer thinks they have to know everything about the plot. Does the director have to reveal all and make it easy to understand? Good art, in my opinion, is not easily understood. If it were easy to understand, it would require less thought. Less discoveries would be made about the artist and ourselves. The makers of this film have proved that it is possible to make an intelligent film with action. I was entranced by the mood and tone of the film. I found myself wishing I was in the world I was watching on the screen. I wanted to be there with the characters and walk the dark streets with them. It is a detective story AND an exercise in Philosophy, which, though a strange pairing, works beautifully here. The main characters wander through a hauntingly beautiful and dark future world seeking knowledge of themselves while they do battle with the evil men of their future. The dialog is peppered with philosophical and literary references that span the length of history and are not confined to the Eastern schools. Our heroes are never melodramatic or cheesy while bouncing philosophical quotes off of each other. This movie is pure poetry while maintaining a sharp edge. Hard to pull off.The Ghost in the Shell films are asking us, the viewers, a question. What is life? What are the differences between Man and Machine and what are the similarities? Where does meaning in our lives come from? Are we human because we feel, or are we more human when we sacrifice our feelings for the greater good? Which is superior? Man or machine? The fact that the director is challenging us to answer these questions for ourselves shows the mark of a true artist. Throw in the absolutely gorgeous visual side to the film, and its' mind-blowing action scenes, and you have a masterpiece of thought provoking entertainment. I would highly recommend only watching this at night or on a rainy day as it can only lend to the captivating mood of this movie. Quite simply it is one of the finest films I have ever seen- anime or otherwise.

It's an odd film this, it gives you something to think about; a bit of existentialism, deus ex machina, source of life, purpose, etc.the only problem is that the film is a bit wanky and up itself. Long pauses on frames and drag pulls of still images means that in reality this has a lot less animation in it than a lot of mangas i have seen, which i just found annoying rather than thoughtful or artistic which is what i think the director was after (either him or the accountant!).I'm not exactly disappointed with this film, just non-plussed really.As a stepping stone on the influences of modern anime and manga as well as iconic sci-fi such as the matrix, it is worth watching, almost just to play "spot what the watchowskis' nicked" (answer = a lot)

Influential animation director Mamoru Oshii returns with a follow up to the impressive if disjointed Ghost In The Shell, which to be frank is even more impressive and possibly even more disjointed than its predecessor. Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence is a creation of great beauty, intelligent thought that throws up some very interesting, sensible and above all engaging points on which to debate the nature of humanity, what constitutes being human? When are we deemed as being alive? However, for all the reasoned debate Ghost In The Shell 2 unfortunately follows and falls into the trap so many Eastern stories ( in particular many mangas and anime) do, which is an incoherent storyline, which proves the ultimate irony seeing as how this a film which engages your mind, you're forced to switch it off in places and just 'go with the flow'.Innocence is an extremely visual film, and you will be awed into watching from a seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation techniques which to be frank makes Sky Blue look like the work of a preschooler. It is simply ravishing and you find yourself hooked intently and intensely to what is simply a blisteringly well constructed piece of animation, and is worth a viewing by all fans of the genre on this basis alone. But is that enough?Well, to be honest, no it is not. As with Sky Blue the animation was painstakingly created over a long period of time, and as with Sky Blue the plot suffered slightly for it. Yes the philosophy is interesting, poignant and it does make you think, this I am not denying, but it's sometimes thrown around complete uncontextualised, just for philosophy's sake. I'm not arguing against the introduction of philosophy and metaphysics into the medium of films, I'm all for it, but when characters are throwing around Descartes name like he's going out of fashion instead of developing what little plot there is within the film, it does tend to lend itself to the criticism that this film is for pubescents coming of age who wish to "expand their minds". Mamoru Oshii is an influential director and his works have always included a degree of philosophy, mostly he tends to tackle the constructs of humanity and reality and the link between the two, can one define another? are the two linked at all? can one survive without the other? However, the original Ghost In The Shell was philosophy crammed, and yes again the story had an air of incoherency about it, but the philosophy was not driving the narrative, the narrative was driving the philosophy, and this is where the sequel fails in its intent.Ghost In The Shell 2 is indeed impressive, but seeing as it was co-produced at the remarkable Studio Ghibli and was a "selection" for the Cannes film festival you can be forgiven for asking for something with a bit more bite to it. There are a great number of positives to take away from this experience, as the animation is impeccable, it is so sublime, it just makes it so fantastically easy to slip into the world and enjoy the feast, and yes a summary can't be made without a nod in the direction of the thought put into this film. However, If you'll forgive this rather audacious metaphor, think of this film as a sandwich, and all this wonderful philosophy provides the contents, the filler, the real taste to go inside this sandwich. Think of the most ridiculously packed sandwich you could possibly imagine, with everything on it, and then imagine no bread with which to hold it all together.