I'm not paying to see this film, due to Michelle Rodriguez's involvement, based on her embarrassing attempted defense of Liam Neeson last week. Once I saw she had a role in this, I'm not supporting the film, which I had intended to do before Rodriguez stepped in it. I do have free movie tickets which I might use, but main thing here is 'might'.
Johanson's "Ghost in the Shell" had a great opening but nosedived after that.
Spoiler (click to reveal)
And then they double downed on the whitewashing aspects of the film, by having her character actually be an Asian woman whose brain or essence or whatever was put into Johnson's white 'shell'. I wish this film had been more of a spiritual adaptation and not an attempted literal one, just switching the action to a NY or LA set in the Ghost in the Shell universe to get away from the whitewashing stuff.
Beyond that, the movie, while doing a decent job with the production design, just dragged too much in the middle. It had a strong opening, a decent close, but the villain wasn't great (not as compelling as in the original anime) and it was boring for long stretches. Also, when I later saw Blade Runner 2049 later that year, it put Ghost in the Shell to shame when it came to the visuals.
