On the new Ghost in the Shell movie
Racefail aside, it's felt much more juvenile than the anime. It's a movie about finding and taking ownership of yourself, while the anime *begins* with the Major knowing very well who and what she is.
Also, of course, in that you never get the feeling that movie!Major, physical skills aside, is the consummate hyperprofessional tactician and world-class badass that is anime!Major. We have Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, etc, for physical female badasses (and never forget Ripley), but I don't know if we have in a major movie, or the industry is ready for, a female badass who's not only part of an elite paramilitary unit, but calls the shots. I suspect there's a cultural line there, where female badasses are ok (if sexualized enough), but not, like, running the badassery. E.g., how the DCEU keeps undermining Waller, who's more Aramaki than Major anyway.
IMHO, an slightly-above-average cyborg-with-existential-issues movie, but that's it.
Also, of course, in that you never get the feeling that movie!Major, physical skills aside, is the consummate hyperprofessional tactician and world-class badass that is anime!Major. We have Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, etc, for physical female badasses (and never forget Ripley), but I don't know if we have in a major movie, or the industry is ready for, a female badass who's not only part of an elite paramilitary unit, but calls the shots. I suspect there's a cultural line there, where female badasses are ok (if sexualized enough), but not, like, running the badassery. E.g., how the DCEU keeps undermining Waller, who's more Aramaki than Major anyway.
IMHO, an slightly-above-average cyborg-with-existential-issues movie, but that's it.