Ghost In The Shell has faced criticism for whitewashing after casting Scarlett Johansson in the main role of The Major, but some of that has been dampened following the release of the first trailer for the film. Plenty of folks are still pointing out the casting issues, but there’s also a lot of folks who just seem happy that the movie doesn’t look like a disaster. That’s what the response from a lot of Japanese fans seem to be if you judge by the comments on the trailer or read some of the quotes following the trailer premiere last Sunday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there’s still plenty of doubt with fans of the original manga and anime film. But plenty are just content that the film doesn’t look cheap:
“This looks 100 times better than a Japanese live-action movie would have been…though I’m not saying it’s a good idea to have done a live-action version,” commented Takahiro Watanabe
“What a difference it makes if you have money. This is a completely different level to Japanese live-action films,” wrote uramasago@K4.
According to many commenters, expectations were low for the film, but what they have seen so far of Rupert Sanders’ reimagining of the story appears to have exceeded them.
“Well, we won’t know until we can see the whole thing, but looks like we can have higher hopes for this than Dragon Ball,” wrote tutona8, referring to the ill-fated 2009 Dragonball Evolution, an example of a failed Hollywood manga adaptation.
I wouldn’t even call Dragonball: Evolution an adaptation, even at a paper thin level. It’s more like going in for surgery on your knee and leaving with an extra arm.
The Hollywood Reporter is quick to report that anime director Mamoru Oshii gave his blessings on the film, but original manga author Masamune Shirow has been quiet on the film. This could be due to his aversion to public appearances, but some are seeing it as a sign for worry. This isn’t stopping fans from praising what they’re seeing to this point, making things look interesting for May:
“It looks incredible. They’ve recreated some of the scenes directly from the anime and really captured it,” Koki Kikuchi, 23, told The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought it might end up looking like the kind of crappy version of Tokyo in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but I’m looking forward to seeing this.”
“Scarlett Johansson is really good casting, and anyway, I can’t think of any Japanese actress who can do action well,” said Teppe Machida, 33. “The trailer looks really cool, I’m definitely going to watch it.”
It could still very well be terrible, but at least it looks very cool. Also, Takeshi Kitano is in there, though most of the Japanese fans were put off by his presence since he’s usually known for playing members of the Yakuza. Feels like a win on that aspect alone.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)