Major to minor

Ghost in the Shell is the Hollywood live-action remake of the 1995 Japanese anime of the same name and it’s set at a time in the future when, it would appear, the world is populated by blandly one-dimensional characters. Evil is perpetrated by our old friend, Corporate Evil Man — yes, still — and everyone communicates via dialogue so stilted and ham-fisted it makes you die inside a little. That said, at the media screening I attended we were all given a free bag of high-end crisps, so it wasn’t two hours totally wasted. (I do really like crisps, high-end or otherwise.)

The film stars Scarlett Johansson, who looked liked being an interesting actress for a while but these days? Not so much. She plays Major and here, I suppose, I should note that her casting led to a furious backlash of the ‘whitewash!’ variety as fans felt the role should have gone to an Asian actress, which is a bit strange, as the character in the animation has large, round blue eyes and also the Asian market remakes Hollywood films all the time.