Anime that's...GOOD!
Not
being a real fan of the Japanese animation
"genre" (so to speak), I approached "Akira" with
caution. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a
gritty, violent, dark, and often disturbing
film.
The story is about a biker in future Tokyo who
is involved in a government experiment and gains
extraordinary powers...then he goes completely
mad. It's up to the military and his friends to
stop him.
First off: the animation is rather gorgeous. The
characters are well drawn and the cities are
amazing. Even the cinematography (I can't
believe I'm saying this about an animated film)
is wonderful. As is the editing.
Visuals aside, "Akira" has a pretty darn good
story. It has many twists and turns and feels
like a real film rather than an animated one.
This would be an A if the last 10 minutes
weren't so cryptic, overly-bizarre and
ridiculous, but I still recommend this to anyone
with a strong stomach and a taste for action and
science fiction.
©
Written by Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard
Propes' Comment
Much like
Jacob, I've never been a huge anime' fan.
"Akira" is definitely on the high end of the
scale for me despite the fact that it's more
violent and intense than I usually favor.
Visually, the film is fluid and constantly
interesting. The vocal work is solid, and the
plot well-developed. I'm not sure I'd agree with
Jacob that the film had the "A" potential, but I
definitely agree that a B+ was not out of the
question and the ending is definitely sort of
disruptive to the rest of the film.
