What is XP?Get rewarded for being a good fan.Every review, rating, list and vote earns XP. Stack it up to climb 100 levels across Lifehaki.Start earning
In 2029, following the conclusion of the Arise storyline, Japanese Prime Minister Osamu Fujimoto is assassinated by a devastating bombing during an international trade summit. Major Motoko Kusanagi and her elite counter-terrorism unit, Public Security Section 9, are mobilized by Chief Daisuke Aramaki to track down the conspirators. The investigation leads Motoko into a treacherous web involving the Third World War ghost virus Fire Starter, cybernetic body manufacturers, and rogue military intelligence officers, forcing Section 9 to confront the elusive cyber-entity known as the Fire Starter.
⚠ Background — may contain spoilers
Motoko uncovers that the Prime Minister's assassination was orchestrated by high-ranking military intelligence officials and the cyborg diplomat Robert Kurz, who sought to maintain lucrative military hardware monopolies by provoking international war. Section 9 stages a coordinated breach of the coastal industrial plant, where Batou, Togusa, and Saito neutralize Kurz's robotic death squads. Motoko interfaces directly into the virtual net, purging the Fire Starter code while allowing a fragment of the entity to merge with her ghost. Section 9 is officially formalized as Japan's premier counter-cyberterrorist intelligence division.
All the ingredients of a competent entry in the Ghost in the Shell universe: great animation, intrigue and no shortage of cybernetically enhanced action.
Nothing can best the original, but this Ghost in the Shell film is at least inventive in its own right as well as a fascinating story revolving around the world and characters we all love.
