Movie Review Repost -- Looper (2012)

So I spent this morning washing my car in the hot spring sun. Staring at my modern-looking vehicle juxtaposed against the lush scenery of the farms right next to my house reminded me of the scenery of Looper, a 2012 sci-fi thriller film set in Kansas in 2044. So since I don't have anything new to show you this week (I will next week, don't worry) I thought it might be cool to elaborate on what I think is one of the most underrated films of 2012. Enjoy!

   During a momentary lull in the never-ending barrage of homework and tests I managed to find the time to watch a movie this week. I saw Looper, a time-travel action/thriller movie. And yes, it was a good choice (I mean did you even look at this article's title?).

   Right away, you'll be drawn into this movie's fascinating world set in 2044. The film follows Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a mob assassin known as a “looper” because he kills victims who are sent back in time from the future. Things turn serious when Joe encounters his older self (Bruce Willis) who wants to change the future. The story seems rather original (though it is somewhat comparable to Terminator, I guess). I especially like the part where Joe goes into a diner and has a really uncomfortable conversation with his older self. Looper's plot is smart and engaging, as well as funny at certain moments.

   Looper also benefits from a talented cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a great job portraying Joe, the cocky, selfish, drug-addicted looper living in Kansas City. Old Joe, played by Bruce Willis, is not nearly as arrogant but instead is full of regret towards the life he led. Even the child actor who plays Cid is impressive; he comes off as really smart yet troubled.

   There's so many other things I could talk about that were brilliantly done: Gordon-Levitt's makeup that makes him look like Willis, the great special effects, the dialogue, the action, the ending... The only real complaint I have is that they could have explained the whole telekinesis thing a little better, especially since it plays a rather important role towards the end. (Did I forget to mention that in the future some people have limited telekinesis?)

   In spite of this, Looper is still an awesome movie. Action fans will like it. Sci-fi fans will like it. If you're even the least bit interested, then you definitely should go see it.

Final rating: five stars out of five!

All-Time Team: Quebec Nordiques (1979-95)

   It's time to finish off this month's series of all-time NHL teams, and we're doing it with the most successful of the now-defunct former WHA teams: the Quebec Nordiques. (For an abbreviated history of the WHA, see 7 May's article on the Winnipeg Jets).

The Nordiques hold the distinction of being the only major professional sports team in recent memory to be based in Quebec City, one of Canada's northernmost major cities (though Edmonton is the farthest north to host an NHL franchise). The team was a goal-scoring behemoth in the WHA, but was forced to give up most of its good players during the 1979 merger and thus finished dead last in the standings of its new league. But with the development of young stars such as Michel Goulet and the three newly-defected Stastny brothers the Nordiques quickly regained their scoring touch, becoming a force to be reckoned with. Quebec made the playoffs seven years in a row from 1981 to 1987. Unfortunately they often wound up having to play against the Montreal Canadiens or the Boston Bruins, no easy feat. And yet Quebec managed some respectable forays into the playoffs in the 1980's, winning six series and making it to the conference finals twice.

   During this time, the Nordiques developed a big-time rivalry with the Canadiens, the only other hockey team in the province of Quebec and the only other French speaking team at the time. The teams often competed for their division title, they faced off in the postseason four times (in the 80's), and their games commonly involved fights (sometimes even bench-clearing brawls). In other words, it was heaven for hockey fans.

   But in the late-1980's the team spiraled downwards in the standings, finishing last in their division five years in a row (1988-92), as well as last in the league three years in a row. The upshot is that this landed Quebec some excellent draft picks, including top prospect Eric Lindros. Unfortunately, Lindros whined and cried like a baby because he didn't want to play in Quebec City. So the Nordiques traded him away in 1992 to the Flyers for five all-star players and a few other dudes too. This windfall deal, combined with the development of recent draft picks, was a massive boost to the struggling Nordiques who doubled their season point total from 52 in 1991-92 to 104 in 1992-93. Their triumphant return to the playoffs was cut short by (who else) the Canadiens who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that year.

   Quebec struggled with injuries the following year, but would rally back in the shortened 1994-95 season with the best record in the Eastern Conference. They were knocked out of the playoffs by the defending Cup champion New York Rangers. For the previous few years, the team's financial difficulties had been mounting. Just like with the Winnipeg Jets, costs (especially player salaries) were rising faster than revenues in a weakened Canadian dollar from an already small fanbase could keep up. Unlike the Jets, the Nordiques' organization conducted operations almost exclusively in French, which severely limited the franchise's marketability and made the team look uninviting to some non-francophone players.

In one of the saddest franchise relocations ever, the Nordiques moved to the States to become the Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup in their very first year there. Since moving in 1995, the Avalanche have won two Stanley Cups, two President's Trophies (best regular season record), and nine division championships (including eight in a row) while making the playoffs in 13 of 21 seasons. Now that's impressive.

   In their NHL years, the Quebec Nordiques wound up winning two division championships. The last Nordiques player still active in the NHL was Adam Foote and he retired in 2011. Today, the Quebec Nordiques are remembered for being one of the few French-langauge NHL teams, their intense rivalry with Montreal, their cool logo, their unique name, and their individual stars whom we're here to look at today.

   Here's my picks for the all-time Quebec Nordiques. As usual, I've tried limiting it to players who've played at least 200 games with the team. And again, only these players' NHL performances as members of the Nordiques (not the Avalanche) will be considered: the reason why Peter Forsberg, Valery Kamensky, and Guy LaFleur aren't here.

Forwards

L-R: Michel Goulet; Marion, Peter, and Anton Stastny; Dale Hunter

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Michel Goulet (1979-90)	Peter Stastny (1980-90)	Real Cloutier (1979-83)
Anton Stastny (1980-89)	Joe Sakic (1988-95)	Marian Stastny (1981-85)
Tony McKegney (1983-84, 1989-91)	Dale Hunter (1980-87)	Owen Nolan (1990-95)
Alain Cote (1979-89)	Paul Gillis (1982-91)	Wilf Paiement (1981-86)

For most of its history, the Quebec Nordiques were blessed with a wealth of scoring talent. First off is career points leader Peter Stastny, the second highest scoring player in the 1980's, seven time 100 point scorer. On his left is four time 50 goal scorer Goulet and on his right is consistent high-scorer Real Cloutier. On the second line is the high-flying captain Joe Sakic supported by the capable productive abilities of the other two Stastny brothers. The third line is made up of power forward Owen Nolan, the gritty and reliable fan-favourite Dale Hunter, and the special teams... uh... specialist Tony McKegney. The fourth line is designed to give a bit of defensive depth. That's why I've added defensive forward Cote, two-way playmaker Paiement, and the grinder/penalty killer Gillis.

Honourable mention: Mats Sundin, Marc Tardiff

Defencemen

L-R: Mario Marois, Curtis Leschyschyn

Mario Marois (1981-85, 1988-90)	Jeff Brown (1985-90)
Curtis Leschyschyn (1988-95)	Adam Foote (1991-95)
Randy Moller (1981-89)	Steven Finn (1985-95)

With the first defensive pair we've got two guys who are good at making plays from the blueline: the speedy Jeff Brown and the toughened Mario Marois. Leschyschyn and Foote are both excellent positional players who anchor the second pairing. And the third pairing is made up of a couple hard-nosed fellas known for using their brawns to clear their endzone: Moller and Finn.

Honourable mention: Gord Donnelly, Dale Hunter

Goaltenders

Dan Bouchard

Dan Bouchard (1981-85)

Stephane Fiset (1989-95)

Like in Winnipeg, good goaltenders were few and far between in Quebec City. So it's no wonder who the #1 spot goes to on this all-time team. Dan Bouchard, the only goalie to win 100 games as a Nordique, with three seasons of 20 or more wins. He even had a winning record, a rarity for Quebec netminders.

Honourable mention: Clint Malarchuk

All-Time Team: Hartford Whalers (1979-97)

   It's time for another all-time hockey team, this time of the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers were another WHA team that moved to the NHL after the merger (see last week's article for an abbreviated history on the WHA). After a so-so inaugural season which saw the team earning a playoff birth, Hartford spent the next few years as just another mediocre team thanks in part to some lousy trades.      But by the mid-1980's, the team was competitive once again. Their return to the playoffs in 1985-86 saw them sweep the division champions Quebec Nordiques in the first round – the team's only playoff series win. The following regular season would turn out to be their most successful with 93 points, resulting in the team's only division title. Unfortunately, the Nordiques got their revenge by defeating the Whalers in the first round of the 1987 playoffs. The Hartford Whalers were a pretty good team in the late-80's and early-90's – even developing a sweet rivalry with their top-tier neighbours, the Boston Bruins – and make the playoffs in the next five years in a row. However, just like the Jets the Whalers had the misfortune of going up against much better teams in the first round of the playoffs: the Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens.

   After the 1992 playoffs, the team tried to rebuild (all of its good players from the 80's had been traded away), adding a bunch of young future-stars. Despite some decent individual performances, Hartford failed to make a return to the postseason. Ticket sales weren't doing so well, exacerbated by the fact that Hartford was a pretty small market for professional sports. In 1996, the team's owner, Peter Karmanos, announced that the team would have to move if they didn't sell 11 000 season tickets for the following season, a rather unfair demand given that (A) the Hartford Civic Center could barely hold 14 000 people and (B) Whalers season tickets were only sold in 41-game full season packages, making them rather pricey. Unable to secure a deal for a new arena, the franchise left Hartford after one last mediocre season.

   The team relocated south to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. They've been up-and-down since, making the playoffs five times in the past 19 seasons and winning three division championships. However, they have advanced to the Stanley Cup finals twice, winning it in 2006. Respect.

   The last remaining former Whaler in the NHL was Jean-Sebastien Giguere and he retired at the end of the 2013-14 season. Today the Whalers are remembered for their rivalry with the Bruins, the colour green, their cool logo (Doesn't it look cool?), and, of course, their individual stars who I'm in here to celebrate today.

   Here's my picks for the all-time Hartford Whalers. As before, I've tried to limit it to players who've played at least 200 games with the team. And again, only these players' NHL performances as members of the Whalers (not the Hurricanes) will be considered: the reason why Paul Coffey, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Chris Pronger, and Brendan Shanahan aren't here.

Forwards

L-R: Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Geoff Sanderson

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Blaine Stoughten (1979-84)	Ron Francis (1981-91)	Kevin Dineen (1984-91, 1995-97)
Sylvain Turgeon (1983-89)	Andrew Cassels (1991-97)	Pat Verbeek (1989-95)
Geoff Sanderson (1990-97)	Ray Ferraro (1984-91)	Ray Neufeld (1979-86)
Dave Tippett (1983-90)	Robert Kron (1992-97)	Stewart Gavin (1985-88)

The scoring line's centre was a pretty obvious choice. Ron Francis: thrice team scoring leader, captain of six years, three-time all-star, career points leader. The best Whaler ever. Surrounding him are two-time 50 goal scorer Blaine Stoughten and fan-favourite power forward Kevin Dineen. The second line features a wealth of both goal-scoring and playmaking talent from all three players with a healthy dose of enforcing from Verbeek. The third line features forwards with fine setup ability as well as some scrappiness from the likes of Ferraro and Neufeld. Since the first three lines have enough aggression, I figured I might as well load up the fourth line with players who excel at both defence – Gavin and Tippett – and special teams – Gavin and Kron. To me, this forward lineup feels complete. Some good scoring talent combined with some toughness capable of holding the line and grinding down opponents.

Honourable mentions: Mark Janssens, Paul MacDermid, Torrie Robertson

Defencemen

L-R: Zarley Zalapski, Ulf Samuelsson

Mark Howe (1979-82)	Zarley Zalapski (1990-94)
Adam Burt (1988-97)	Dave Babych (1985-91)
Ulf Samuelsson (1984-91)	Joel Quenneville (1983-90)

The first defensive pair here specializes in moving up the puck, with Zalapski's speed and Howe's powerplay value. The second pair gives a more positional style of play, with a fair bit of playmaking from Babych (previously selected for Winnipeg's all-time team), one of the great underrated defencemen of his time. And of course, how could you have a fantasy Whalers team and not include Ulf Samuelsson, the hard-hitting Swedish brute that made life miserable for his opponents? With him is the venerable Joel Quenneville. Overall, I'd say this is a defensive corps that is versatile, has a little bit of everything.

Honourable mentions: Brad McCrimmon, Glen Wesley

Goaltenders

Mike Liut

Mike Liut (1984-90)

Sean Burke (1992-97)

When it comes to Whalers goaltenders, these two guys are all you really need to know about. And Liut was easily the better of the two, compiling three 20-win seasons (including one season of 31 wins), a spot on the Second All-Star Team (1987), and a decent goals against average in a time where goals were a dime-a-dozen.

All-Time Team: Winnipeg Jets (1979-96)

   I guess you didn't know this, but I'm kind of a hockey fan (Canadian stereotype, I know). Not so much of today's hockey – I couldn't even name half of this year's all stars – but more so of vintage/retro hockey. I'm talking the 1980's and 1990's. This is probably thanks to the abundance of overproduced, unsold backstock of early 1990's hockey cards that my brothers and I were able to buy from just about any dollar store around the turn of the century.

   This month is the Stanley Cup playoffs and I wanted to write something hockey-related. And since I don't know terribly much about the current NHL scene, I thought it would be fun to go look back at some NHL teams that no longer exist. So for the next few weeks I'm putting together my choice of all-time lineups for the three former WHA teams that no longer exist, starting with the Winnipeg Jets.

   The World Hockey Association was set up in 1972 as a rival to the NHL for the North American professional hockey market. It wasn't the first David league to try to take on the Goliath supremacy of the NHL, but it was perhaps the most popular and least-unsuccessful. The WHA took advantage of the lack of professional teams in major Western and Midwestern cities and it paid its star players much better than the NHL (luring away some of the best players of the day). It also made headway in signing players from Europe, a new thing at the time. The rivalry between the two leagues was intense, although mergers were being talked about all the time. Unfortunately by the late 70's, the WHA was in a state of financial distress and teams were always relocating and/or folding. A merger in1979 brought the upstart WHA to an end, with four of its best teams – Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets – joining the NHL for the 1979-80 season.

   The Jets' transition to the grand old league was pretty bad. Their first two years saw them finish dead last in the standings, including one year in which they only recorded 9 victories. However this did allow them to get some good draft picks in (Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Babych) and by the mid-1980's the Jets had a solid line up and were able to make the playoffs in 10 of the next 12 years. While the Jets would typically do well in the regular season (peaking in a fourth place finish in the 1984-85 season), they had the misfortune of facing either the red hot Calgary Flames or the unstoppable Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs. Throughout its history Winnipeg won only two playoff series (both against the Calgary), and the team's performance fell into mediocrity in the mid-1990's.

   By the mid-90's, Canadian NHL teams were in trouble. Costs and player salaries were rising, the Canadian dollar was falling, and the league's new commissioner/pimp Gary Bettman was more interested in shoving hockey teams into large southern US cities that have never even seen ice before. The Jets simply didn't have a large enough market base to support a team, so the franchise was relocated in 1996 to Phoenix, Arizona, of all places. I mean, blimey!

   Since then, the Phoenix Coyotes – now called the Arizona Coyotes – have been a pretty unremarkable team. Though they've made the playoffs several times, they've only made it past the first round once. Not only that, but the Coyotes organization has long suffered major difficulties, struggling to (A) gain a decent audience (despite dirt-cheap tickets and a huge television market), (B) build a proper arena in which people can actually see a hockey game, (C) find someone in Arizona who actually wants to own the damn team, and (D) avoid bankruptcy (which was declared in 2009). So yeah, pretty much sums up all that's wrong with Gary Bettman's business mindset.

   The Jets never won any division titles. The last remaining Jets player in the NHL is Shane Doan, who is still active today with the Arizona Coyotes.

   So let's get on with my choice for the all-time Jets lineup. Just to be clear, only these players' NHL achievements with the Jets (not the Coyotes) will be considered for this team's inclusion. I've tried sticking to players who have spent at least 200 games with the club. Also, I'm not a complete expert at coaching hockey and building teams, so if any of the following choices sound strange to you, relax. These are just my personal picks.

Forwards

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Keith Tkachuk (1991-96)	Dale Hawerchuk (1981-90)	Teemu Selanne (1992-96)
Morris Lukowich (1979-85)	Alexei Zhamnov (1992-96)	Paul MacLean (1981-88)
Brian Mullen (1982-87)	Thomas Steen (1981-95)	Pat Elynuik (1987-92)
Mike Eagles (1990-95)	Laurie Boschman (1982-90)	Kris King (1992-96)

I've filled the first line, as always, with the team's most gifted scorers: future Hall of Famer and career Jets points leader Hawerchuk (pictured, left), the aggressive 50-goal scoring power forward Tkachuk, and Selanne, who recorded a mind-blowing 76 goals and 132 points in his rookie year. The second line is loaded with three fine playmakers and goalscorers, with some added toughness from MacLean (pictured, centre). The third line is a lot like the second line, but without the aggression. Could be better. The fourth line is where all the tough guys are: defensive forward Eagles, determined two-way playmaker Boschman (pictured, right), and the rugged King. As you can see, most of the forwards are heavily focused on scoring. While there is some toughness throughout, the Winnipeg Jets' all-time roster isn't all that rich in defensive forwards.

Honourable mentions: Dave Christian, Lucien DuBois, Eddie Olczyk

Defencemen

Dave Babych (1980-86)	Phil Housley (1990-93)
Teppo Numminen (1988-96)	Fredrik Olausson (1986-94)
Randy Carlyle (1983-93)	Peter Taglianetti (1984-90)

The Jets have had some pretty good defencemen over the years. The first pairing – Babych and Housley (pictured, left) – provide a wealth of playmaking ability, with Babych also delivering on a strong defensive style of play. Numminen is a solid rock on the blueline while Olausson (pictured, right) is good at moving up the puck during the powerplay. The third pairing adds some much needed aggression as well as some exceptional positional play from Carlyle. Not a bad defensive corps, if I do say so myself.

Honourable mention: Mario Marois

Goaltenders

Bob Essenza (1988-94)

Nikolai Khabibulin (1994-96)

Winnipeg wasn't exactly blessed with a plethora of outstanding goalies. But if I had to choose a starting goaltender for this all-time team it would be Bob Essenza (pictured). He had a winning record, one 30-win season, and was a second runner up for Vezina Trophy voting in 1991-92.

Movie Review Repost -- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Sorry, guys. Once again I've got nothing new. But please understand that I've not been lazy; I'm currently working on a bunch of new stuff for this blog (including some stuff for a new topic I've not yet covered on Anachronarchy before) and hopefully it will be ready for next Saturday. For now I guess it's time for another movie review repost, this time of 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. This was a fun movie to watch, and while I haven't seen it since, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing again. Enjoy.

   I have to confess, I was probably the only person on the world who didn't know what Mad Max: Fury Road was going to be like. Upon viewing the trailer it looked to me like happy hour in the Australian Outback. As it turns out, that's this movie in a nutshell. And it delivers what it promises.

   Mad Max is a crazy, over-the-top adventure that exists in a deranged heavy metal fantasy world. One could easily imagine Motörhead or Judas Priest coming from that guitar-playing dude. Yeah, one of the cars is loaded with tons of amps and has a guitarist strapped to it. And that's just one example; there's lots of bizarre characters and outlandish but still cool-looking cars. I guess I should talk about the plot. It takes place in a post apocalyptic world where water and gas are sought-after goods and where most of the population is crazy with radiation poisoning (I guess). Max and Imperator Furiosa team up to try to escape the clutches of the evil cult leader Immortan Joe. This is a film that is relatively light on plot and dialogue, but heavy in the action department. When people tell you that Mad Max is one long action scene, they're not far from the truth.

   The film showcases some great acting across the board. Tom Hardy is great as the level-headed, yet tormented title character who is primarily concerned with his own survival. But Charlize Theron steals the show as the grim, determined Furiosa, who is arguably the film's real main character. She doesn't speak much more than Max, but remains just as compelling.

   Mad Max should also be commended for its outstanding cinematography. Every shot looks great, and you can easily tell what's going on. I've heard that this movie used a lot of practical effects and stunts, but with such highly developed CG thrown in as well it's hard to find the seams. In either case, the effects look amazing, even in 3-D.

   Despite its very few plotholes – like why did Joe leave the citadel unguarded? And where was Max going at the end? – Mad Max: Fury Road is an outstanding movie. Everything you've heard about it is true (except for the claims that this is a feminist film; I wouldn't go that far). And that's about all there is to say. It's a good movie and you oughtta watch it.

Rating: five stars out of five!

Movie Review Repost -- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Sorry, dudes. I've got nothing new this week. You know what that means: a repost of an older review that I did during my Facebook days. And since next month will see the release of a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I think it would be appropriate to look at my review of the last movie the series gave us, On Stranger Tides. My opinions on the Pirates series has been very up and down. I like the first movie, in which Johnny Depp wanders into what would've otherwise been a dull romance movie and ended up stealing the whole show. The second and third films were convoluted snooze-fests. And then there's this one, which was easier to digest but not exceptionally well written. As you'll see here, my thoughts of it haven't changed much since 2011. Enjoy.

   So there's a new POTC movie out this summer. Is it better than the last two? Let's find out. I'm going to be comparing them to the other ones a lot, so be prepared.

   Our new leading lady is Penelope Cruz who plays Angelina, the pirate daughter of Blackbeard and love interest of Jack Sparrow. Cruz does an excellent job of making Angelina an interesting character – this is what Nightly's character should've been like! Angelina and Jack make an exciting onscreen couple. Keith Richards is back – for about two minutes – as Jack's father . . . kind of pointless. Our main villain is Blackbeard, who, while he did have a cool introduction, is pretty dull throughout the rest of the film. His connection to Angelina often slows down the plot, like that scene where they play russian roulette to decide if she should jump into a river.

   The good news is that this movie's plot is self-contained and we don't have to wait for the next movie to see how it ends! (Yes, I'm still miffed about that.) This movie left out Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan from the other films, but that's OK. I always thought they were unnecessary. Now we can focus on Jack Sparrow and his adventures. The plot isn't as confusing and messed up as the second and third movies, but it's still somewhat needlessly complicated. Like the other movies, this one has decent physical humour and fun fight scenes, like that one fight near the beginning where Jack seemingly fights himself. Also cool, this movie has mermaids! Beautiful, highly intimidating, vampiric, man-eating mermaids. Cool.

   But this movie also has plot holes big enough to fit a pirate ship. Like where'd that prophecy about Blackbeard's death come from? It's just brought out of nowhere and never explained, that's where! So if Blackbeard doesn't want to be killed, why doesn't he just “zombify” himself like he did to some of his crew? By the way, there's a semi-pointless romance between a clergyman and a mermaid which sort of takes the place of the Will/Elizabeth romance. In the end, their fates are completely unexplained. Did the clergyman die of his wounds? Since Angelina drank from the fountain of youth (as a means of healing her mortal wounds) does this mean that she lives forever? No one says a word regarding this matter, so who knows? Putting together shreds of plot give only tattered answers.

   In short, this movie is only slightly better than the second and third POTC movies. If you're a POTC fan, check it out. You'll probably like seeing it once. If you're tired of pirates movies, then I wouldn't recommend this one. It just doesn't bring anything fresh to the franchise.

Final Rating: two and a half out of five.

Movie Review -- Ghost in the Shell

   So I went and saw a weird action movie starring Scarlett Johansson. No, I didn't just rewatch 2014's Lucy. I saw Ghost in the Shell, a sci-fi action flick that's gotten pretty mixed reviews so far. Before I begin, it may be helpful to mention that I know nothing at all about the source material, so I'm not going to be commenting on it's faithfulness to the original manga of the same name. I'm also not going to touch on the whole whitewashing controversy (mostly because I don't care). If you want to read about people ranting and raging over that topic, there's plenty of other websites you can try. But come on, this movie has ScarJo in a skin-tight bodysuit. It can't be that bad!

   Ghost in the Shell takes place in the year 2XXX in the sprawling city of XXXX-ville, in the Republic of XXXXX... in Asia somewhere. In this world most people have cybernetic enhancements, even to the point where experimentation with brains transplanted into completely artificial bodies are taking place. One such cyborg – the first of her kind – is Mira Killian, a counter-terrorism agent working for the Department of Defence. Her investigation of a botched assassination attempt leads her into a plot of corporate corruption as well as a path of self-discovery. And it's all presented in a typical cyberpunk tone that isn't too serious, but at the same time isn't over-the-top silly. This isn't exactly the most original plot in the world; you'll be able to tell where some of the threads are leading. Additionally, some of the movie's themes – what it means to be human, etc. – could have been developed a bit more. The story isn't awful, but it is Ghost in the Shell's biggest weakness.

   Thankfully, the movie's characters are interesting enough to hold the film up. Scarlett Johansson does a great job with her magnetic portrayal of Killian, the unsure protagonist longing to know more about her past. Pilou Asbæk is fun to watch as Killian's badass partner agent Batou. There's also a widowed lady character played by Kaori Momoi who, while she doesn't have many scenes, still manages to leave an undeniably potent impression. As with the film's themes, Ghost in the Shell doesn't fully flesh out every one of its characters, instead giving us several brief tastes of persons it would have been cool to learn more about.

   Ghost in the Shell's visual effects are very impressive. While it is obvious that the film uses CG, the effects are incorporated so seamlessly that spotting the seams is no easy task. (So just do what I did: give up looking for them and just enjoy the freakin' movie. OK?) This visual proficiency lends itself well to supporting how imaginative this film's world is. Many characters have cybernetic enhancements that you'd never have imagined seeing before. I was taken aback by a few of them that I wasn't expecting. The action scenes are pretty cool too. Fight scenes involving invisible people never felt so cool.

   But the biggest thing Ghost in the Shell has going for it is its visual style. Equal parts daytime-Blade Runner and 1980's neon sci-fi-fest, this film's spectacle is a sight to behold. From the costume/hairstyle design, to the bright, colourful lights, and futuristic metropolis – even the darkwave synth soundtrack – you won't find a more 80's sci-fi film this side of the new millenium. One glance at the cars shown in this flick is all the proof you need.

   I don't say this often, but I think the critics are wrong about this movie. Ghost in the Shell is a respectable action movie that gets more things right than wrong. Could it have been better in certain aspects? Yes, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it despite (or possibly because of) not being familiar with the source material. And if you're a fan of cyber-punk, futuristic, sci-fi films with a cool vision, then chances are you'll like it too.

Grade: