Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

I loved the first one, but this... God, what a disappointment. You'd get the same effect by hanging out with a bunch of stoned computer programmers. It seems unfortunate but appropriate that a film this stiff and inorganic should be about technology overwhelming humanity, but that's no excuse for the windy and poorly expressed circular dialogue that passes for philosophical musings. Even the animation isn't anything special -- the elaborate CGI used to realize some of the more difficult bits clashes with both the limited-but-expressive traditional animation and the film's dour maple-syrup pacing. Finally, there's a certain level of irony in the climactic revelation of the existence of dolls with souls, as the film itself appears to have been made sans soul. (Regarding the rest of the narrative: if anyone can figure out what exactly is going on here, you're a better man than I.) Right before the film's most incomprehensibly 'meaningful' section, there's a visual reference to Two or Three Things I Know About Her, which I think says it all.

Grade: C-