Ghost in the Shell

In this sci-fi thriller movie version of the Japanese anime series, Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a cyber-enhanced human (well, she has a human brain anyway).  I love these futuristic dystopian movies that depict life in a brave, new world of tomorrow, especially if cyborgs or robots are involved.  In this movie, Major is a human whose brain is put into a “shell” or synthetic body after being ‘saved’ from a terrible boating tragedy.  The “ghost” is her essence, or spirit.  She is turned into the perfect soldier and is tasked with stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals from doing their nefarious deeds.  The cinematography is exquisite and had me totally immersed in futuristic Tokyo.  Scarlett Johansson is pretty good playing a robotic-like woman who is starting to realize that her creators may not be telling her the complete truth about what has been done to her.  I also liked Pilou Asbaek as her sidekick Batou, who has a soft spot for dogs.  However, I found the story was slow-paced and the plot very simplistic.  Despite, those drawbacks, and poor reviews from other venues, I think if you see this movie, you will enjoy it.