52
Metascore
42 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeSpectacularly honoring the spirit and aesthetic of Mamoru Oshii’s beloved animated adaptations without resorting wholly to slavish cosplay, this is smart, hard-lacquered entertainment that may just trump the original films for galloping storytelling momentum and sheer, coruscating visual excitement — even if a measure of their eerie, melancholic spirit hasn’t quite carried over to the immaculate new carapace.
- 60EmpireDan JolinEmpireDan JolinThere is a frustrating absence of personality which means, for all her physical presence, this Major’s just not very engaging. It’s more a problem with the film than Johansson herself. A case, if you will, of it being so preoccupied with the shell, it forgot to bring enough ghost.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt’s a spectacular movie, watchable in its way, but one which – quite apart from the “whitewashing” debate – sacrifices that aspect from the original which over 20 years has won it its hardcore of fans: the opaque cult mystery, which this film is determined to solve and to develop into a resolution, closed yet franchisable.
- 60Total FilmMatt MaytumTotal FilmMatt MaytumIt’s the most staggeringly detailed and impressively realised sci-fi location since James Cameron welcomed audiences to Pandora, and one of the few recent blockbusters to benefit from the 3D treatment.
- 60New York Daily NewsEdward DouglasNew York Daily NewsEdward DouglasWhile it offers some new ideas, the movie also suffers from the same pacing problems of the original.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerIf the "ghost" of anime classic Ghost in the Shell refers to the soul looming inside of its killer female cyborg, then this live-action reboot from director Rupert Sanders really only leaves us the shell: a heavily computer-generated enterprise with more body than brains, more visuals than ideas, as if the original movie’s hard drive had been wiped clean of all that was dark, poetic and mystifying.
- 50Screen DailyLisa NesselsonScreen DailyLisa NesselsonEven though there’s an enormous amount to look at and digest, little of this film is truly memorable or thought-provoking.