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If you didn’t see the first Ghost in the Shell, you’ll be lost in Innocence. Shells refer to human, cyborg, or android vessels; ghosts are the personae that inhabit them. Each configuration has an "e-brain" plugged into the Internet. The notion might conjure up Matrix comparisons, though Mamoru Oshii’s initial cyberpunk anime (based on a long-existing manga) hit the screen in 1995, four years before The Matrix dazzled audiences. The action takes place in post–World War III Tokyo, where the cityscape is a dreamy water-colored Gotham that conjures Blade Runner. And as in Blade Runner, a synthetic being has perpetrated a slew of murders. Rogue cyborg Bateau (voiced by Akio Ôtsuka) and his reluctant partner Togusa (Kôichi Yamadera), minor characters in the first film, are the cops on the case. Gone, and sorely missing here, is the Major, the half-naked fembot with the sangfroid of a Terminator. (If you’re struggling with the imagery, just think Aeon Flux or Heavy Metal.) A lot of arcane information spews across the screen (the subtitles exacerbate matters), and at times, the blur between cyber-reality and reality is hard to discern, but Oshii’s visual artistry is so hypnotic and original, it’ll resonate even with those who aren’t in the know. In Japanese with English subtitles. (100 minutes)
BY TOM MEEK
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