If they had gone with someone like Lucy Liu instead of Scarlett, things could have been so much better. The only good casting choice in there was Beat Takeshi.

The story reeked of Hollywood executives messing around with something they didn't understand.

It's a shame because as far as the cinematography and production design they nailed it. The scene in which Section 9 gets set up actually made me forget about the casting choices for a minute. They even had Togusa use a Chiappa Rhino, presumably because they couldn't get their hands on a real Mateba Sei Unica.