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In case you missed the memo, someone decided that cutting an entire twenty-six episode season of Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex into a three hour long movie was a good idea.  Having already suffered through the train wreak that was The Laughing Man, I didn’t have a lot of hope for the reversion of the second season, entitled The Individual Eleven. Maybe it’s just the fact that my standards were lowered into the very depths of the Marianas Trench, but The Individual Eleven managed to not completely ruin my weekend. 

It is odd, The Individual Eleven has the same problems that The Laughing Man did, (namely trying to stuff thirteen hours of content into a three hour movie) but the pacing and editing snags that stopped the first movie dead in its tracks don’t hamper The Individual Eleven in the same way.  Maybe the director learned something between editing The Laughing Man and now, or maybe the story of the 2nd Gig just lent itself better to editing.  The primary problem I had with the first movie was the major story changes that had to be made to make the series fit for time.  While some plot points have been altered in this film, the changes aren’t as major as the first time around.  When I noticed changes in The Individual Eleven, I understood why things had changed, unlike the seemingly random changes that took place in the first movie. 

The flow of the film is also greatly improved from the previous attempt, and only occasionally do major plot points get glazed over only to be brought up later in dialog.  It still happens on occasion, but it is not as detrimental to the flow of the story.  Sadly, the episodes that had to be cut to make the film are some of the best episodes in the entire Stand Alone Complex, the back story of The Major, of Paz, or my personal favorite, Saito.  These episodes would have no place in this movie, and I am not implying that it’s a slight on the film to not include these episodes; I am merely stating that some people will be missing out.

Which brings us once again to the big question: who is this movie for?  Because of the changes in the first movie, I decreed that it was in fact for no one: they changed too much for the hardcore, and the movie left too much out for the casual viewer to use it as a substitution for the entire series.  The Individual Eleven however does a better job of condensing the whole of the story into one understandable package.  The new viewer might have a few moments where they don’t understand what’s going on, but most of the questions will be explained in the end.  The changes made to the plot are minor compared to those in The Laughing Man and as such I wouldn’t feel bad showing this movie to someone new to the Stand Alone universe as a way to introduce them to the world and characters.  If you’ve got a friend that might be interested in the political cyber-punk shenanigans of Section 9, but doesn’t want to take the time to watch a full season, The Individual Eleven might be a good starting place.  They’ll be missing out on a lot of the cool side stories that are included in the season proper, but it’s a good way to get the proverbial foot in the door. 

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