Akira (1988)

When I was writing my release news last week, I had been hearing a lot about this Akira DVD. Now, I had never seen the movie nor have I seen any anime. I remember seeing clips of Akira on the Sci-Fi channel when I was a kid, but that's about it. I also did a lot of thinking about the up coming comic, RPG, anime, etc. festival in Milwaukee known as Gen Con. They show anime and will probably have the Akira DVD and maybe I can get a sale on it with all my coupons, it sounded cool enough...

I rented the movie the other day and I have heard a lot about it. "Ohh, it's the best man!", was one of the most used quotes when I asked people to tell me what they thought of it. This made me excited to watch the flick, I quickly popped it into my VCR.

The story deals with two teenage boys who are in a motorcycle gang together in Neo-Tokyo about thirty years after World War III. The boys, Tetsuo and Kaneda come off like friends. However, Kaneda is older than Tetsuo and always uses his age to help and rescue Tetsuo. Tetsuo gets somewhat angered when he is treated like a child, but you can notice a friendship between the two. After a night of fighting with another cycle gang, Tetsuo crashes into a mysterious small boy and is taken to a government lab. We find out that Tetsuo has contracted a psychic power from the boy that the governent is making stronger. Tetsuo escapes and goes on a psychopathic rampage which Kaneda and his girlfriend, along with the government and other un-explained psychics try and stop.

I enjoyed the movie, I did. It was like watching some good ole sci-fi for adults. It was like Blade Runner in a cartoon, it's not for kids. I kinda understood what was going on, and each characters motives. However, there were moments when I was completely confused. Is this because I never read the comic book? Did I miss something? Who was the fat guy who talked like Marlon Brando and those kids? What was their deal? I think I know what it was, but I'm not sure. My biggest questions revolve around the ending, which was fucked up. I've never seen anything like that and I still don't understand a second of it. That kind of disappointed me.

Overall, the film was decent. I would like to watch it again to figure out the ending and all. Would I spend the thirty bucks on the DVD? I don't know. I enjoyed the film and would like to see all the extra features. I mean, it's got a making of documentary and a new translation track, maybe I missed something that never got translated.. It was a decent film though, I suggest everyone sees it. It's something you'll love or hate. I don't think there is a moderate. (Then, maybe love isn't the word. Maybe "good".) Anyways, check it out. Maybe I'd like Princess Mononoke more.

- Dr. Strangelove (aka Drew Morton)