GHOST IN THE SHELL

12A

BENEATH the glossy exterior, there’s not much spirit to be found in this curate’s egg of a sci-fi action thriller.

Hard-working Scarlett Johansson stands at the centre of the spectacular visuals, but even the Avengers star can’t bring the soul-less storytelling to boil.

The story is based on the acclaimed Japanese cyberpunk comic strip which was followed by a successful big screen animated version in 1995.

This future version of Japan is a neon vision of eye-popping CGI where the population pay for cybernetic enhancements to make themselves quicker, stronger, smarter etc.

Johansson gives a nicely judged mechanical performance as a kick-ass military cyborg known as the Major.

She’s a human brain in a synthetic body and possessed of unexplained powers of flight and invisibility. Investigating the assassination of corporate suits, the Major discovers a secret about her past that causes her to question the mission.

Casting of Johansson in the lead role and giving an Asian role to a Caucasian actress was controversial.

But, technically, Johansson is playing a robot, and the film’s Chinese financiers don’t seem to have a problem with it. And it’s the least of the film’s problems.

It’s a remarkably sexless enterprise, where cardboard cutout characters are dwarfed by the locations and the drama is lost in scrambled action sequences.

A flat script fails to explore the idea of identity and the dull dialogue suffers from a severe humour malfunction.

And without love, poetry or anything else to give it humanity, Ghost In The Shell offers very little of substance.