Innocence (2004/I)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writers:

Masamune Shirow (comic "Koukaku-Kidoutai")
Mamoru Oshii (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 March 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Animation | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Fantasy

Tagline:

Sore wa inotchi innosensu ('Innocence is Life')

Plot:

In the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.

Plot Keywords:

Cyborg | City | Sequel | Cyberpunk | Battleship

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Akio Ôtsuka	...	Batô (voice)
Atsuko Tanaka	...	Major Motoko Kusanagi (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Togusa (voice)
Tamio Ôki	...	Section 9 Department Chief Aramaki (voice)
Yutaka Nakano	...	Ishikawa (voice)
Naoto Takenaka	...	Kim (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gou Aoba	...	(voice) (as Go Aoba)
Eisuke Asakura	...	(voice)
Robert Axelrod	...	Koga / Lin (voice: English version)
Richard Cansino	...	Man / Security 1 / Wakabayashi / Yakuza 1 (voice: English version)
Joey D'Auria	...	Kim (voice: English version)
Erik Davies	...	Azuma (voice: English version)
Peter Emshwiller	...	Guard / Terrorist (voice)
Richard Epcar	...	Batou (voice: English version)
Crispin Freeman	...	Togusa (voice: English version)
Yuzuru Fujimoto	...	(voice)
Emiko Fuku	...	(voice)
Masao Harada	...	(voice)
Minoru Hirano	...	(voice)
Hiroaki Hirata	...	Koga (voice)
Katsunosuke Hori	...	(voice)
Sukekiyo Kameyama	...	(voice)
Eriko Kigawa	...	(voice)
Hiroyuki Kinosha	...	(voice) (as Hiroyuki Kinoshita)
Shuji Kishida	...	(voice)
William Knight	...	Aramaki (voice: English version) (as William Frederick Knight)
Steve Kramer	...	Detective / Security 4 / Security 5 (voice: English version)
Sherry Lynn	...	Gynoid / Rescued Girl (voice: English version)
Michael McCarty	...	Ishikawa (voice: English version)
Michael McConnohie	...	Forensics Man / Forensics Staff / Section 9 Member / Security 3 (voice: English version)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn	...	Motoko Kusanagi (voice: English version)
Kenichi Mochizuki	...	(voice)
Sumi Mutoh	...	On'na no ko (voice)
Ryûji Nakagi	...	(voice)
Yasushi Niko	...	(voice)
Bob Papenbrook	...	Crab Man / Cyborg Dr. / Underwater Cyborg / Yakuza 2 (voice: English version)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Haraway (voice)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Dispatcher / Girl (voice: English version)
Ellyn Stern	...	Haraway (voice: English version)
Terrence Stone	...	Forensics Chief / Pilot / Security 2 / Shop Owner / Yakuza 3 (voice: English version)
Yu Sugimoto	...	(voice)
Fumihiko Tachiki	...	(voice)
Masaki Terasoma	...	Azuma (voice)
Akino Watanabe	...	(voice)
Mr. X	...	Yakuza 4 (voice: English version)
Makoto Yasumura	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (USA)
Innocence - Inosensu (Japan) (poster title)
Innocence: Ghost in the Shell (International: English title)
Kôkaku kidôtai 2 (Japan) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

UK:15 | Denmark:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Japan:U | France:U | Finland:K-11 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | New Zealand:M | South Korea:12 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40831)

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The 5-minute parade sequence took a year to complete.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the forensics examination, one of the computer screens misspells "research" as "RESAERCH".

Quotes:

[first title cards]: In a future time when most human thought has been accelerated by artificial intelligence and external memory can be shared on a universal matrix, Batou, an agent of the elite Section 9 Security Force and a being so artificially modified as to be essentially cyborg, is assigned, along with his mostly human partner, Togusa, to investigate a series of gruesome murders.

Movie Connections:

References "Max Headroom" (1987)

Soundtrack:

River of Crystals

Visually Stunning, Brain Recommended But Not Required

On the same page, this movie is called both "Intellectually Weak," and "In love with its own intelligence" by different IMDb users. Clearly, that alone makes this film worth your time and worth forming your own opinion about.

The thing is, this is not a stupid film by any means. 'Visually stunning,' it is constantly called, but it's not just that: It's an assault on the senses (in a good way), both visually and aurally. The sound is incredible, the images stick with you. Even a simple, seemingly underthought image like the final two shots of the movie will stick with you long after the closing credits roll.

But how is the story? I haven't seen the original in years, but this one held my attention, and kept my brain engaged. I remember not liking the first one when I first saw it (too many scenes of nothing moving, while we listened to voice-over), but I give this one an enthusiastic thumbs up, plus a wink and a smile. It FEELS like the middle chapter in a story... there is too much left unresolved, and while seeing the first one isn't necessary to understanding this one, there ARE many references the original "Ghost in the Shell." It's not so much a continuation of the story, as it is a continuation of the characters. Which I think is the better call.

Constant quotes from literature is not a sign of intellectual weakness, I don't think. People accuse the movie of not having a brain of its own, but I think any movie that engages the brain of its audience needn't make apologies. This one remains interesting on all levels; I just hope it doesn't take them another nine years to produce part three.

10/10