by Chris Feil
Coming with a wave of whitewash casting controversy and mini teases over the past month, Ghost in the Shell finally has a teaser trailer. The Rupert Sanders directed manga adaptation opens in March, and you can expect to hear more and more takedowns on the casting of Scarlett Johansson as an asian character before then - especially Disney screws up with their coming Mulan revamp. But will the film offer anything to draw our attention beyond the controversy, as much as we do love Johansson?
Take a look at the spooky opulent teaser below and check out our Yes No Maybe So analysis after the jump...
YES
- You gotta love a teaser that actually teases. Michael Pitt's Kuze is still lurking in the shadows and there's plenty of mystery unrevealed.
- That geisha robot is instantly memorable and creepy. As cliched as our scifi actioners have become post-Matrix, this may actually give us something that really catches our imagination.
- Juliette Binoche in IMAX 3D!!!
- Even if Ghost looks super moody, it's not reflected in the visuals. What a poppy (but not ghastly) color palette!
NO
- But when the visuals are obviously the real star, Johansson's whitewashing casting looks extra foolish.
- Featured cliches: slow mo, stoicism, whispery monologuing, and a crappy revamp of an 80s track. Originality is not on this film's side, even if it is an adaptation.
- Lots and lots and lots of guns in a probably inappropriately PG-13 package. Bloodless brutality is still brutality.
- The actually action doesn't look all that exciting, does it?
MAYBE SO
- The complaints about Johansson's casting remains, but this may actually feature diversity throughout even if the headliner role is whitewashed.
- We can always just pretend it's a Black Widow standalone right? ... oh yeah, she's a robot here...
I'm leaning towards NO. What do you think of the teaser?