When I saw the trailer to this movie, I was very excited to see it. The visuals and effects were mesmerizing.  And they are, but that is it. The plot is very bland, the characters are somewhat convincing, and where the movie tries to be emotional, it really comes out wanting. The best actor in the movie was Major’s mother, Hairi (Kaori Momoi). Her scenes (about 20 minutes total) were the most moving, despite the lack of emotion portrayed by Johansson.

This movie is set in a futuristic age where mostly everyone is a type of cyborg – humans with robotic features or robots with human features. Major’s (Scarlett Johansson) brain  is saved from an apparent crash and is the first of her kind. She is all robot except her brain and she struggles to find her identity throughout the movie. Is she a robot or is she human and how can she be both? Throughout the movie she finds out where she comes from, who she was, and how love prevails.

This is a movie set on the uniqueness of the protagonist, and unfortunately she really wasn’t that unique. I was disappointed in this. I am not into sci-fi that much, but even I can recognize a good story in a genre I  don’t enjoy extensively.

Recommendations: I can only recommend this movie to those who like the original anime. (Maybe, because I really do not know if the movie botched the story line of the anime or not.) Also, if you don’t care about movie depth and love great CG, then this would  be a good movie to watch. And to those who like cyborg/internet/sci-fi genres, then this may be a good fit.

To the Christian: The movie is rated PG-13. Frankly, Major looks naked half the time. The suit she wears is very close to looking like her skin, but there is a slight difference. There is a moment when she is very close to another female and it looks like they are about to kiss, but thankfully they don’t. There are cuss words thrown through out. I really don’t think I would let my teenagers watch this. They’re not missing out on much. If they like great CG, I would recommend they watch Kong – Skull Island instead.