Ghost In the Shell (2017)

GHOST IN THE SHELL  (2017)  ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Rupert Sanders
    Scarlett Johansson, Pilon Asbaek, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano,
    Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt, Chin Han, Danusia Samal
A live-action-and-CGI remake of the 1995 animated feature based on the manga character first introduced in 1989, a killing machine with a human brain and the mechanized face and body of (in this case) Scarlett Johansson. This is where "Blade Runner" meets "Resident Evil", which means it falls somewhere between being a real good movie and an okay one. It works best as a reflection on identity, with Scarlett's character trying to remember where she came from and figure out who she really is, while running, leaping, flying through the air and disposing of numerous bad guys. The action scenes are functional, the highlight being "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, the hero of many Japanese gangster movies, going up against an arsenal of automatics with a throwback revolver. Scarlett's remoteness serves her well as an android, and she has a distracting habit of removing her costume whenever she goes into serious combat. Whether what she strips down to is the android equivalent of nudity or a computer generated catsuit, the effect is hard to ignore. That's some shell. That's some ghost.