In the past, I have noted (ranted, even) about the reasons why it is a bad idea to produce live-action movie versions of animated shows. In general, I still believe this is true. For the most part it is because some Hollywood hack (who never watched the original, and/or knows nothing about it beyond what he chooses to watch to "get a feel" for it) decides he must make the movie "his own" by adding his own vision of the characters, or make it "more believable," or "more real," by changing the characters or situations.

There I go again. I didn't intend this to be another rant.

The article referenced above talks about the possibility of a live-action version of the animated Ghost in the Shell (GitS) movie, which is based on the legendary manga. I am wary of this, because this is one of my favorite anime movies (along with the sequel and the series). Looking at the source material, I can only think that, even in a live-action version, there will have to be a lot of CGI work (i.e. animation).

The thing that keeps me hopeful is the fact that the company granted the rights to produce the live-action movie is Production I. G., the company that produced all of the animated movies and series. They also did some work for Kill Bill: Vol. 1. If anyone can do this movie right, it is this bunch.

Of course, this is just the announcement of the granting of the rights. It will be a year or two before anything concrete comes of this. So I will wait and watch and reserve judgment. Rest assured, gentle reader(s), that I will not hesitate to call it like I see it. If it looks to be shaping up as a steaming pile of fecal matter, I will sadly say so. But I hope it is not.

Yes, it has been two and a half months since my previous posting. I get lazy, especially around the holidays.

Actually, I did write a couple of things, but I never got around to finishing them and posting them. Maybe they will show up, maybe they won't.

Labels: anime, GitS, movies