And to think I’d originally intended this bad boy to be a weekly sort of thing. No such luck, there I guess. It’s still better than nothing, I suppose. But yeah, today we’ll be talking about Ghost in the Shell, or at least the one with Scarlett Johansson.
So, if there's one thing to be said for the new GitS, it's certainly got guts... and yet kinda doesn't. Aside from the choice to assign Scarjo into the lead role as everyone's favorite ass-kicking cyborg--the major--the film doesn't really seem to take any other risks aside from that. I mean, it's a good movie, just not an interesting one. I think the Japanese themselves were rather on the nose when it came to the issues with the film: they had nothing wrong with Scarjo taking on the leading role, loved the look of the world, and regretted that the film lacked the depth of the original graphic novel. I suppose at this point, I should probably point out that I was a bit of a GotS: SAC fan during high school. With it's clever, politically driven stories and genuinely beautiful animation, I was hooked, even if I did start half-way through the season, making me wonder just what the hell was going on. But enough about high school. Let's get into the meat and potatoes of the matter and discuss the film in question. Firstly, I should mention that this is clearly a film that people put genuine effort into. The cyberpunk world of... I'm not even sure what city this is, is beautifully presented, if not a touch generic. All of the special effects are incredible and everything looks beautiful and multicolored. The rest of Section 9 is fairly diverse as well, even if Bato is western as well (he's not even played by Ron Pearlman--shame too, cause that's a match made in heaven, in my book), even if we don't really get the chance to get to know them proper. That being said, the decision to have the chief played by everyone's favorite Japanese eccentric, Takeshi Kitano play Chief Aramaki was, at least in my book, genuinely inspired. The story is also legit something you'd see out of the series, even if it feels like it's potential wasn't totally tapped into. I was initially worried that it would turn out that Section 9 is bad or something to that effect when we learn the Chief isn't who they assure her she is, but I'll get into that in a moment. The action is also very well done, even if it is, once again, stuff we've seen before. Also, spoiler alert, but it should be mentioned that the chief being a white person instead of her native Japanese is actually cleverly utilized within the story proper. It turns out that, yes, the person the Major thought she was, she wasn't, and she's actually just a runaway who was put into a body that she didn't necessarily want. While the GotS purist in me was complaining about little details like Bato getting his cyborg eyes involuntarily, I'll do my best to block those out. I did enjoy the little references to certain fight scenes in the movies and shows proper, not to mention references to the romantic tensions between and Bato and the Major, not to mention the Major's occasional sapphic leanings. Okay, now that we've gotten the good out of the way, time to get into the bad. That being said, I try my best to judge an adaptation not on how accurate it is to the source material--even when that nagging little voice in my head is telling me "they didn't do it that way in the show" or whatever, but by how well it captures the spirit of the original. And to be honest, as good the intentions of the director were, something got lost in the film's transition from Anime into blockbuster hollywood fair. One of the major issues, at least in my book is how we don't really get a feeling for the Major's relationship with Section 9 overall. The movie opens with the Major being “reborn” as her cyborg self, and then next thing we know, it’s a year later and she’s throwing herself off of a building and making banter with section 9 like it’s nothing major, pun totally intended. And while, I said I'd try to keep the nitpicking to a minimum, I've just got to get this little one out of the way. One of my favorite of the bunch, aside from the ever eccentric Bato, is Togusa, the least cybernetically enhanced individual on the team. What's more, in the source material, his role on the team was vital because of how few alterations he'd had over the years. He was the one most connected to his humanity, one could argue, and, to a degree, kept the rest of the team grounded. Here, they just give us a couple of lines of dialogue describing how he refuses to get any enhancements. Even the symbolism of him preferring a revolver over more modern or heavier weapons is lost when Chief Kitano uses a revolver of his own. Okay, now that I got the BS nitpicky complaint, let me get to the major complaint. The one that I think keeps this bad boy from even being something like “V for Vendetta” or other “light” adaptations. The aforementioned twist. I think the thing that really keeps this movie from being interesting has to do with how the reveal of the major's original identity was handled. As I may have mentioned earlier, we later learn that the major was, in fact, originally, Japanese and not, you know, Scarjo. The film proper ends with the Major insisting that one's memories don't define you, but your actions do. For a series whose whole point is coming to terms with how becoming cybernetic affects our humanity for both the positive and negative, this feels like a copout. The whole point of the GotS is trying to figure out what makes a person human as opposed to a bunch of parts, whether it be your own identity or how someone copes that identity. Hell, I’d argue that it’s missing a major opportunity. These days especially, America has had issues with representations of other cultures within its bodies of work, especially for a culture that (supposedly) embraces other cultures and such. Brushing off the taking of one’s identity like that, not just when it comes to memories, but also ethnicity, feels just plain dismissive. While you could argue that GitS was never particularly Japanese, I’d argue that the very act of brushing off ethnicity like that is in and of itself Japanese--the Japanese being as self-centric as they are--whereas dealing with issues ethnic identity is a very American story and one which would help elevate this film significantly. I mean, making something relevant to the country that made it is hardly a bad thing. Take, for example, how in the V for Vendetta they changed the voice of God from a radio personality into a Bill O'Reilly esq. T.V. blowhard. I’d argue that doing so allowed it to resonate with modern, American audiences. In short, the only real risk that this film takes to give it anything of interest to talk about is the ethnic angle, something which it itself throws aside like so much unnecessary dialogue. If you’re looking for a pretty film with plenty of action and such, you could do worse than this bad boy. Or you could just watch the original GitS, its sequel, Standalone Complex, or the three OVA’s. Or if you’re not into “weeaboo trash” as my co-worker would like to say, you could just rewatch Blade Runner, Fifth Element or the Matrix, the latter of which, ironically, was somewhat inspired by GitS. Shame too, but I guess it could be worse. I mean it could be better, but it could've been worse.
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Alright, so confession time: I don’t really think it was until College that I became interested in playing “Majora’s Mask.” I’m not sure whether it was just one of those instances where I was just willfully didn’t want to play the thing or if I felt like it wasn’t worth my time, seeing as how it came out literally a year or two before, but I was just never all that interested. I’d first heard someone who wasn’t into videogames refer to it as a horror game. Another time, a few years later, I was schmoosing with a friend about games and such, but somehow the conversation veered into how in Majora’s Mask, Link dies and how this is just his experience in the afterlife. It doesn’t help that you see many of the same people in that game as you do In Hyrule. Is this because link is re-experiencing his past? Well, the actual reason is that Nintendo reused the assets from OoC to make Majora’s mask. But why let little details like that get in the way of a good fan theory. It was also around this time that I started reading creepy pastas, which could best be described as sort of like internet ghost stories. And while I do want to do a proper post about some of the ones that I like, one of the more famous examples of video game Creepy Pastas would probably be the one called “Ben Drowned,” about a haunted copy of Majora’s Mask. To be honest, I haven’t really had a chance to read it in full, seeing as how it’s a little long and I like my internet fiction to be bite-sized (with the exception of the epic Worm, of course) and it’s a little long for my taste.
Part of it, as well, was that I’d never gotten around to finishing up with Ocarina of Time. However, about a year or so ago, I picked up the fershlugena thing on my 3DS, so after finishing OoT finally—the reason why I didn’t finish it the two previous times is a long story in itself—I decided to finally give the thing a try, and while I do think that some of my friends may have been damning the game with some faint praise, I feel that there is a certain layer of creepiness over the overall plot. The story begins proper, when link is making his way through the woods as a child and suddenly finds his horse taken and his body transformed by the creepy, off putting, skull kid and his two renegade Fairies, Tatl and Tale. Things become interesting however when Skull Kid steals Tael away and Tatl joins you to get him back. Next thing he knows, he’s thrust full hilt into an attempt to keep the world from ending. If this sounds a little different from the usual Zelda plot, that’s because this probably one of the more unusual Zelda plots around. that’s probably because you’re not trying to save the world from some malevolent force, but trying to keep the world from what may very well be natural entropy. (Although I may be speaking out of my ass here). The Skull Kid’s goals aren’t really lofty as Ganon’s or Zant’s, lusting for power which, in a way makes him all the creepier. He’s not the kid stealing sand castles. He’s that one kid kicking over sandcastles and smashing every toy he can get his hands on. And there are no parents telling him not to. He’s the darker side of childhood innocence given form. Even for his final boss, while not quite as epic as, say the fight against Ganon at the end of OoT, pervades this creepy, Caroline-esque vibe. If there’s one problem with the guy, it’s the same one that Vaas has. He’s doesn’t show up anywhere near as much as we would like. I mean, the thing about a good villain is that they feel ever-present in the narrative, whether it’s because we’re constantly cutting back to them or something to that effect, we feel like they’re always there. Ganondorf for example, he’s constantly showing up in OoT. GLADoS is constantly nagging Chell, giving instructions or talking to her somehow. Hell, let’s look at one of what is probably the most underrated videogame villains: Serial Killer X, aka SKX. All throughout the game, Ethan Thomas is constantly chasing the guy, at one point, quite literally. And while we don’t see the guy’s face for a fair share of levels, we do see the guy’s grisly, gnarly, twisted work, much of which Ethan is forced to examine in depth. With the skull kid, he just kind of sits there on top of clock tower. Although, now that I think about it, the real baddy is the Moon itself, in all his creepiness, but we don’t really make that connection until the final act, so to speak. But anyway, I suppose the thing to keep in mind here is there is an eerie offness to the whole game. While OoT was an epic tale of good vs. evil, this is more of order vs. chaos, preservation vs. entropy and keeping things the same vs. change for the worst. And make no mistake, death is a constant theme throughout the game. Aside from the definite symbolism at the beginning when Link is thrust underground and “suffers a terrible fate,” there’s also the fact that most of Link’s major masks are taken from the dead. Not to mention whereas in the last game, the time switching mechanic was more to emphasize the idea that this was sprawling, historical tale, in Majora’s Mask it feels more like the ruthless march of time, as every second brings you ever closer to the land being destroyed by the aforementioned rather creepy looking moon. A moon that literally hangs a shadow over everything that goes on in the game. Death is particularly prevalent in the last area of the game, a barren patch of badlands filled to the brim with ghosts, mummies and various other creepies. Even But what about the gameplay. Well, it’s pretty much the same as ocarina of time, albeit many of the abilities you had in that game are related to the special masks you acquire. And then there’s the way that time factors into gameplay. Along with the usual songs you learn, you also get the ability to both slow and escalate the flow of time, which is useful because this time around there are certain events scheduled for certain days. It makes it all the more important to keep things scheduled and to keep in mind where to go. That being said, there are a certain number of things that I kinda don’t like. For example, it can feel a little tedious when, heaven forbid you screw an event up, you ‘re forced to wait a whole day before you can do it again. Or reset the game proper. It doesn’t help either that the Water temple this time around is especially painful and tedious. Dungeons feel like a race against time as opposed to sprawling landscapes we can explore. And if the plot summery I gave sounded a little confusing, it’s because they haven’t been the most show, don’t tell this time around. To be fair, though, I haven’t had the most time to play Majora’s Mask, so that certainly may be part of it. When you’re an adult and write in your spare time, you find the amount of time you have to devote to videogames decreases significantly. Overall, I’d definitely say give this badboy a try. It’s not the greatest Zelda game, but it’s certainly the most different and interesting. |
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AuthorHello all and Welcome to Jacob's Latter. Here I will be giving my opinions on everything from movies, video games and books to my general outlook on the world. Archives
January 2018
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