What is a ghost? The back of the movie case says it is an indefinable element of human consciousness. It's, more or less, a soul. Souls that exist in shells, which are artificial, augmented bodies infused with technology of a future that might resemble our own. That brings up the question, who is real and who is a creation? What makes people human? These deep questions are only a few that are posed in this movie. Ghost in the Shell is a movie that would not be enjoyed by kids or adults with below average intelligence. They just won't get what this movie is about. Ghost in the Shell is a movie that will appeal to a more intelligent audience consisting of young adults and adults. Be prepared to think during this movie. The plot, which is complicated, can be broken down to a simple three-sentence synopsis. Major Motoko Kusanagi, who is an elite police officer, must hunt down the puppet master, (the greatest hacker of all time, I might add) who hacks into the ghosts of people and creates a computer-generated fantasy for them. These people do the dirty work of the puppet master, as he controls their fantasies, without even knowing it. Unfortunately, the puppet master has a special interest in Kusangi and is pursuing her for reasons unknown.

The plot is intelligent and very cool. However, I wish that the complicated scientific jargon was cut down a little. I found myself asking myself, "wha?" a lot. Speaking of problems with this movie, the movie doesn't seem to be balanced as well as it could be. The movie starts off with an awesome action scene, and then there is another cool action scene about 15 minutes later. Then the whole middle of the movie turns into a drama, with about 45 minutes without any action. Then we get this awesome action scene at the end, where Kusanagi confronts a tank like thing and finally meets the puppet master. I didn't mind that much, but the middle of the movie tended to drag on a bit and I am sure that some other people who watch anime for the action might be asleep in the middle of the movie. While we are on the subject of bad, we might as well get the bad things out of the way. Kusanagi is callous and she never smiles, not even once, in this movie. I just hate her personality.

So is there anything good about this movie? OF COURSE! The good things, far overshadow, the problems. First of all, the character design is fantastic. Kusanagi, the puppet master and Bateau (the main male character) are all memorable. The animation is gorgeous. The best I have seen. It is a combination of computer generated and hand drawn animation. The colors are bright when needed, the drawings are crisp and the backgrounds are wonderful too (especially the city.). The action scenes are fantastic and really stand out. (Especially the end action scene.) The plot, which can tend to drag at times, is also great and very complicated, which I like. I also like the questions that this movie poses. How much technology is too much and what really makes us human? Pure humans seem rare as most people are technologically enhanced. The dubbing is pretty good. Kusanagi's voice can get a bit annoying and her voice doesn't seem to fit. However, the other characters are voiced very well.

The twist is also nice at the end, but seems a bit odd. Nothing that I would expect, but nothing so over the top, I wouldn't expect it. The music, which I like, would be considered annoying but most people. It consists of hair raising and brain scraping chanting by a whole bunch of women. I think the chanting adds a Japanese atmosphere to the movie. All in all, this movie is excellent and has only a few flaws, which keeps it from being perfect. I love this movie and you should buy it if you like your anime complicated and futuristic. I wouldn't recommend this to children though, since it would be rated R. There are a few deaths that include bloody explosions, quite a few swears and some nudity that isn’t nudity but looks like nudity. (Kusanagi wears a thermoptics suit, which makes her invisible, however it is skin colored and looks like nudity.) Kusanagi also gets ripped apart. (But it's not that gruesome because her body is mostly robotic anyway.) I must say though, that compared to the manga, this movie really pales in comparison, however, as a stand alone movie, it’s excellent. I recommend this one; it’s one of my favorites.