Today’s quick review: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society. Two years after Major Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9, Japan’s elite counter-terrorism unit, a lot has changed. Chief Aramaki has expanded the team, Togusa has taken over day-to-day operations, and Batou has become withdrawn. But Section 9’s latest case crosses Motoko’s path once again as they investigate a rash of suicides tied to a mysterious hacker named the Puppeteer.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society is an anime science fiction movie. One part sci-fi speculation, one part geopolitical thriller, Solid State Society follows Section 9, a group of soldiers and police who specialize in cyber-terrorism, as they investigate a terrorist plot, a murderous hacker, and a government coverup, all while trying to understand the involvement of their own former member Motoko Kusanagi.
Though it shares the same source material, Solid State Society has no direct connection to any other Ghost in the Shell movie. Rather, Solid State Society picks up where the Stand Alone Complex television series left off, continuing the story of the series’ incarnation of Motoko Kusanagi and Section 9. Solid State Society addresses similar themes and plot elements as the original movie, but remixed into an original plot that fits with the Stand Alone Complex world.
Fans of Stand Alone Complex will appreciate Solid State Society as a condensed story in the same vein as the show, but they may be disappointed by its execution. Though its individual elements are as interesting as anything the series has to offer, the overall plot is overly convoluted and has a weak payoff. As an extension to Stand Alone Complex, it is thoughtful yet bittersweet, showing how the characters have grown and changed since the series’ end.
Newcomers to the franchise may be at a loss. The film’s quality is high enough to serve as a satisfying, self-contained sci-fi story, but it presupposes knowledge of the setting and the characters that a new viewer may find hard to overcome. Solid State Society does a better job of introducing its plot than the original movie but a worse job resolving it; coupled with its reliance on knowledge of the TV series, this makes the original movie a better introduction.
Watch Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society when you are in the mood for a solid sci-fi thriller with a few flaws. Solid State Society does a good job of scratching the science fiction itch, but it is outclassed by both the Stand Alone Complex TV series and the original Ghost in the Shell movie. It will do in a pinch, but you are better off starting elsewhere in the franchise.
8.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.5 for an impressive setting, interesting ideas, and decent execution marred by a muddy plot and weak payoff.