Watch the action-packed Ghost in the Shell opening

Video by Jamie Dunn | 24 Mar 2017

Scarlett Johansson kicks arse in this exhilarating opening scene from the upcoming live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell

The opening scene from the much-anticipated live-action remake of cult anime Ghost in the Shell has been released online, and it’s as stylish and eye-popping as the various trailers for the sci-fi action film has suggested.

The five-minute clip show Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg-human hybrid working for a counter-terrorist organisation, dive off the top of a skyscraper and into a hotel restaurant where a business meeting has been interrupted by some machine-gun toting men in suits and a very creepy geisha robot.

While the short clip makes it difficult to get a handle on what’s going on story-wise, the visuals are simply stunning, with the neon cityscape recalling Blade Runner and the slow-mo action calling to mind The Matrix.

The film, a live-action remake of the 1995 anime based on Masamune Shirow’s cult 1989 manga, is not without its controversies, particularly in the casting of a non-Asian actor as the Major. Speaking to Marie Claire, Johansson said that “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.”

Johansson added that she was honoured to be part of a franchise driven by a female protagonist. “It is such a rare opportunity,” she said. “Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that – the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”

Check out the clip in the player above, and have a look at the official trailer in the player below.

Ghost in the Shell is released 31 Mar by Paramount