Visually, this movie is very pretty to look at. From the cinematography, the CG work, the costumes, and the set design. Most importantly, this movie does a great job in bringing the world of the manga and the anime Ghost In The Shell original source materials to life. At least in the looks department. I especially like the gigantic holographic advertisements that can be found all over the city, and the general future-tech stuff.
As for the story, despite the fact that this is an adaptation, it actually attempts to be it's own thing. That's a good thing, and a bad thing. The good thing is that I actually appreciated some of things added to a certain character's back story, as well as seeing the live-action recreated scenes from the original source materials. That's about it really. The bad thing is that while the story technically has some interesting things to say; usually the elements found in the original source materials, the general premise of this adaptation is rather mediocre, drab, and just plain boring. What's unfortunate is that the screenplay is not able to adequately handle the scenes that diverge into philosophical topics, with the dialogue just ending up sounding stilted and awkward.
I appreciate some of the ambition that this movie does have, but it doesn't help that the only thing really fleshed out in the world building are the visuals. The thematic topic about whether a human is still a human if 95% of their body is artificial, may constantly be present here, but that's as far as the movie is capable of handling in terms of big ideas. One could argue that this is the most dumbed-down version of the Ghost In The Shell story, and one could even argue further that this is just another typical western adaptation that focuses more on action sequences, eye popping visuals, and familiar plot tropes, that is meant to be easily digestible to the viewing audience.
It's too bad that this is how the movie turned out. I generally like this ensemble cast of characters and the promise that they could bring into a story. Batou, Aramaki, and Major, are characters I'd honestly like to see more of in a live-action format. The way the movie ends with these characters, it's almost like this is just a prequel story to what could potential result in a more fleshed-out sequel with better plot development. Speaking of characters, Scarlett Johansson is just serviceable as Major Mira Killian, especially during the action sequences. Unfortunately she is playing her mostly robotic character, like a robot, as she should I suppose. It doesn't make for a captivating performance though.
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P.S. I would like to give kudos to the movie for figuring out some way to justify the fact that the Major is played by a western actress, when she is typical portrayed as a Japanese woman. There shouldn't have been a need for it's justification in the first place though, if you know what I mean...
