Why this title? Well because of all the random asides the main character “The Major” would have. Much like an aside in theatre she would randomly look right at the audience or “camera” (since its animated) and pontificate on some aspect of life that the current scene related to. I didn’t quite find that it worked well in this case. It was kind of like, “Hey in case you’re not getting the point, here’s a soliloquy to help you out.” I can’t say I truly enjoyed it, but it wasn’t horrible. It brought up some interesting points, but points that Sci Fi in general, ESPECIALLY cyberpunk brings up all the time. One of the major themes of cyberpunk is what I had a professor call the ultimate anti-theme: looking at what it means to be human, by examining what it means to be not-human. More thought and spoilers after the break in case you haven’t seen it yet and feel the need to. (Btw, we were able to see it on Netflix instant watch, if you were looking for it.)

So first rattle out of the box, she’s naked. This seems to be a theme in and of itself. I’m not sure why either. It seems to have something to do with when she goes “therm optic”ally invisible. But the dude who does the same thing doesn’t need to be naked?! The other people in the movie seem to be fine with it, other than the leader of her team who always throws his coat over her in some attempt at chivalry I guess. It just seemed unnecessary to me and not even make any sense (note again, the man who doesn’t have to be naked to turn invisible).

That aside, it made some interesting points. The idea that AI’s could become sentient is probably one of our biggest fears. If you haven’t yet, you should watch Blade Runner, it’s a bit more exciting version of this. I guess I just had a hard time keeping up at times which made me lose interest. But I persevered! The twist at the end that the “Puppet Master” was doing all of this just to talk to the Major was notable. I thought the part where he defined humanity as being able to procreate and die was interesting. Reminded me of the end of the Doctor Who episode, “The Doctor’s Wife” when the TARDIS dies (in a way).

Btw, the fact that the dude who saved her and obviously cared for her in someway then put her in a little girl’s body was… creepy to say the least.

Also I know this is completely random, but when the Major is drinking a beer and says they can’t get drunk anymore… Wouldn’t the whole point of drinking alcohol dissolve under this notion? Why not just drink a soda or something. Lol.

Ultimately I would say the best thing the film had going for it is the ambiguous origins of the Major herself (and the “whisper” in her ghost). We never really find out if she is a human with enhanced parts or if she’s just a presence in a shell. Again reminds me of Blade Runner and the robot who’s never told she’s a robot. 

Scalzi extols it as a predecessor to The Matrix, but Blade Runner was out in 1982. Definitely a more existential anime movie than most but nothing new to the cyberpunk scene. Gibson’s Neuromancer (which some say is a father of all cyberpunk) had a lot of the same ideas going for it as well. Sorry if I wasn’t impressed!

If you’re looking for other good cyberpunk Gibson is always a good start but literature wise I would also suggest Cory Doctorow for REALLY awesome contemporary stuff. He has a collection of cyberpunk stories that is awesome called Overclock: Stories of the Future Present and a YA novel I own but still needto read called Little Brother. Classic cyberpunk writers include Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson (although Stephenson’s Snow Crash, gets more into the social or biological science fiction so I hear, still heard it’s good though). Blade Runner and The Matrix are probably the key classic films to see (other than Ghost in the Shell). Both of which I will review on their own eventually since they’re on the 50 list. More contemporary media examples are Surrogates and Repo Men. My husband is a big fan of Repo! The Genetic Opera (unrelated other than by subject to Repo Men). 

Next up: Review of Sucker Punch