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Movies / On DVD / Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

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Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

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Reviews Counted:89

Fresh:56

Rotten:33

Average Rating:6.2/10

Consensus: The animation is lovely, but the plot is complex to the point of inscrutability, leaving Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence both original and numbing.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, disturbing images and brief language

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Sep 17, 2004 Limited

Box Office: $856,451

Synopsis: Nine years ago, writer/director Mamoru Oshii's widely influential "Ghost in the Shell" burst onto the international film scene, becoming one of the most successful anime films of all time. Now,... Nine years ago, writer/director Mamoru Oshii's widely influential "Ghost in the Shell" burst onto the international film scene, becoming one of the most successful anime films of all time. Now, Oshii returns with the long-awaited sequel "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence." "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" is set in 2032, when the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. Humans have virtually forgotten what it means to be entirely human in both body and spirit, and the few humans that are left coexist with cyborgs (human spirits inhabiting entirely mechanized bodies) and dolls (robots with no human elements at all). Batou is a cyborg. His body is artificial: the only remnants left of his humanity are traces of his brain…and the memories of a woman called The Major. A detective for the government's covert anti-terrorist unit, Public Security Section 9, Batou is investigating the case of a gynoid—a hyper-realistic female robot created specifically for sexual companionship—who malfunctions and slaughters her owner. As Batou delves deeper into the investigation, questions arise about humanity's need to immortalize its image in dolls. Together, Batou and his partner must take on violent Yakuza thugs, devious hackers, government bureaucrats and corporate criminals to uncover the shocking truth behind the crime. "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" is the story of a solitary cyborg who desperately wants to hold on to what's left of his humanity in a world where the worth of the human soul is fading almost into obscurity. "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" was written and directed by Mamoru Oshii based on an original story by Shirow Masamune. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and Toshio Suzuki produced the film. It is the second anime film to be released under the banner of Go Fish Pictures, a division of DreamWorks Pictures. "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" was the first anime film ever to compete for the Cannes International Film Festival's coveted Palme d'Or. It also joined the ranks of such animated classics as "Dumbo" (1947), "Peter Pan" (1953), "Fantastic Planet" (1973), "Shrek" (2001) and "Shrek 2" (2004) to become only the sixth animated film to compete at Cannes. -- © Go Fish Pictures [More]

Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Naoto Takenaka, Ruby

Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Naoto Takenaka, Ruby

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Director: Mamoru Oshii
Composer: Kenji Kawai
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 28, 2004

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Reviews for Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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It's a must see for the theater. Don’t just wait for DVD, or you’ll miss out.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/17/04
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Gorgeous.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
09/16/04
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

Unlike his American peers, Japanese writer-director Mamoru Oshii makes animated films that are as serious as a heart attack.

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment Comment
10/22/04
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Innocence entertains, but it doesn't resonate.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/27/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

A revelation, a challenging yet enlightening journey into the depths of creativity and imagination.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/16/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Solemnly questioning issues of science and metaphysics, it creates a spell that's a unique blend of the ominous and the sensual.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
09/23/04
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Possessed of a highly literate, almost classical story, the search for the meaning of human life itself, and the unshakable belief that it encompasses much more than skin and bones.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/19/04
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

More vital than most police procedurals, fusing the metaphysical and the scientific into a pulp yarn with a gentle but bruising philosophical kick.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/17/04
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/18/04
Boston Phoenix

Places too much emphasis on high-minded dialogue and endless shots of computer panels blinking and beeping and turning and whizzing and spinning.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
07/03/04
Mark Keizer
Mark Keizer
Boxoffice Magazine

Anyone who wants to see animation pushed to its limits should go.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
09/17/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Mamoru Oshii's 2004 follow-up to his 1995 anime noir is that rare sequel that surpasses the original.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/18/07
Andrea Gronvall
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader

Those able to pick through the hiss-tangled web of circuitry and wiring will find Ghost in the Shell 2 an electrically-charged philosophical action movie.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/16/04
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Chicago Tribune

Ingeniously crafted with flashes of intelligence, if not very memorable.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
09/16/04
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

A hulking cyborg with a brain that's part Plato, part The Terminator, goes from gunning down a warren of criminal Yakuza to cloudy quotations.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
09/12/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

It's a feast of animation technology and styles, but weighed down by textbook dialogue and storytelling monotony that work against its expressive imagery.

comment Comment
06/07/04
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Never less than spectacular. It seamlessly combines sophisticated hand-drawn animation with computer-rendered backgrounds.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
09/17/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Victims shudder from 'the terror of being reduced to simple mechanisms and matter,' but Oshii clearly wants us to ask: What's the difference?

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
10/15/04
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

A rehash that takes a timely theme, mankind's obsession with technology, and bloats it to the point of incomprehension, cramming meaning into dialogue that has none.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
09/16/04
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All the philosophical chattering here starts to become wearying. But the action scenes help, and there's no denying how dazzling the animation is.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/15/04
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
 
 
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