Paramount Pictures has unveiled a new clip from the upcoming live-action Ghost in the Shell movie, giving us a look at that water fight sequence that’s been teased in the trailers. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as Major, a human who was saved from an accident and turned into a cyber-enhanced soldier to help combat crime. The sci-fi story twists and turns as Major seeks the truth behind her rebirth.

The film is, of course, based on the popular manga of the same name which itself was turned into an anime film in 1995. Snow White and the Huntsman filmmaker Rupert Sanders directs this live-action adaptation, and while he certainly knows how to craft compelling visuals, I’m curious to see how the full film turns out.

For people like myself who didn’t see the Ghost in the Shell anime before The Matrix hit theaters in 1999, this may seem quite derivative. Indeed, even in this short water fight sequence there are strong shades of the fight scenes from the Matrix trilogy that the Wachowski siblings crafted, which itself was heavily inspired by anime. So while Ghost in the Shell technically came first, for a lot of audience-goers The Matrix is the “originator” of this kind of aesthetic and visual approach and thus will no doubt draw comparisons.

But for now, this standalone fight scene looks pretty cool. Take a look in the video below. The film also stars Michael Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, and Juliette Binoche. Ghost in the Shell opens in theaters on March 31st.

For more on Ghost in the Shell peruse Steve's set visit coverage in the links below:

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Image via Paramount Pictures
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Image via Paramount Pictures
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Image via Paramount Pictures

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