Thanks to Twitter, Ghost in the Shell Never Stood a Ghost of a Chance

It might take a few months--or maybe even a few years--but eventually, Scarlett Johansson's Ghost in the Shell will have an afterlife. The live-action adaptation of the Japanese classic is a complete cyberbore, narrative-wise, but for those who gush over big-screen artistry, there's plenty to get lost in: the opulent, expansive CGI visuals; the gorgeous Clint Mansell/Lorne Balfe score, pulsing and plinking like a Tangerine Dream nightmare; even Johansson's stoically acrobatic performance, which proves once again why she's one of the most in-demand action-film stars in the world. It's one of those films destined to be salvaged by the web, where the movie's defenders will advocate for it via frame-grab sprees or the occasional subreddit threads. Ghost will find its followers. In the here-and-now, though, Ghost in the Shell is an all-encompassing embarrassment, the kind of movie you might not want to admit you watched--and which, judging from the box office, not a lot of people bothered to see in the first place.