Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society | DVD ...

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society

Section 9 is back with another movie

What makes the Ghost in the Shell franchise so compelling is that it?s a cyberpunk James Bond, right down to the cold opening action sequence. Solid State Society is the final in a rerelease of the Stand Alone Complex Movies on Blu Ray. Solid State Society is the first that isn?t an edited down retelling of a season, but an original movie that takes place several years after the end of the second season. There have been quite a few changes to Section 9 in the interim.

I think that may be the first problem you can spot with this film ? to get the viewer up to speed, there is an early scene that contains nothing but exposition and recap. It feels stiff and lifeless, and in a show that throws technobabble around like Wesley Crusher, that says a lot. The show has always been a bit on the cheesy side, but I think you can feel the constraints the writers felt under in the limited scope of a two hour movie. The main change that may be shocking to longtime fans is that Major Kusanagi sits out a fair amount of this film. Batou is given the central role of the story, though his usual militaristic nature is tempered by his melancholy over the missing Major. These changes really set Solid State Society apart form the other movies, as it feels like the story has moved forward. Though I think that some of these changes are substitutes for the greater depth in the story found in The Individual Eleven.

The action and espionage are quite on par with the prior two installments. The conspiracy of Solid State Society begins with a rash of suicides after the death of a deposed colonel, but leads down a rabbit hole of hackers and government conspiracy. It?s easy to point out that all this series boils down to is James Bond with robots, but I wonder why that?s a bad thing. This may have the most moralizing of any anime I?ve seen in recent memory, but it manages to skirt the line of preachy. Conspicuously absent is the philosophizing about the nature of self that defined the movies and series so clearly, though I think that it?s beating a dead horse at this point. Instead you get a rather direct allegory for the current problems of Japanese society, but I think it still plays well.

The special features are far more in depth than the previous two installments. There is quite a bit about the actual production, along with a special about the deal the producers made to feature real world concept cars in the movie. Though it?s crass commercialism, it shows how anime is big business in Japan. I also like that this package includes interviews with the English ADP director and the voice over actors for the Major and Batou. This team deserves some recognition because SAC is among the best-produced English dubs.

I hope that we?ll see either more seasons or yet another TV movie from Stand Alone Complex, as I think that this world has more stories to offer. Solid State Society is a solid film, that may not have the depth of its predecessor, but that may not be a fair comparison since this conceived as a two hour film, not edited down.

What Works	Score
+ Nice action sequences + Good feature package	9.0
What Doesn't
- The story has a smaller scale than it's predecessor
Under the Shrink-wrap
Anime fans should be picking this up in droves, and if you wanted a place to start, this wouldn't be the worst.

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Tags: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Jul 12th, 2011 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.dignews.com/reviews/ghost-in-the-shell-stand-alone-complex-solid-state-society/

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