Akira (1988)

reviewed by
Shane Burridge


Akira (1988) 124m. 

The mother of all manga (Japanese animation) films. If you don't like this sampling of the genre, then quit now - there aren't many that come better, or at least bigger, than this. AKIRA is the manga that all others, for better or worse, are measured by (its popularity in the West has helped this enormously). As with others of its type, the plot of AKIRA - which I won't even try to capsulize here - is secondary to the visual action. Story is set 30 years after World War III, which nominally makes it science fiction, and its convincing portrayal of a high-gloss dystopia (a mix of BLADE RUNNER and CLOCKWORK ORANGE) does stamp a strong SF feel onto the first half hour. Eventually this gives way to the personal torment and wholesale destruction conventional of manga, and the SF element is consumed by the quasi-religious ascension that appears to be the only logical 'out' that films of this type can conclude with.

At the time of production AKIRA was the most expensive animated film produced in Japan, and it may well still hold that record. It was obviously a labor of love for writer/co-director Katsuhiro Otomo, who also wrote the graphic novels on which it was based. His meticulous attention to detail (especially noteworthy are the finely-rendered backgrounds and enormous palette of colors) shows that he approached the task of animating his book as if he were making it as a live-action film - the drawings were so finely rendered that frames were drawn for 70mm film. He also departed from the conventional techniques of other Japanese studios by pre-recording the dialogue before animating the characters. Otomo and animation director Takashi Nakamura use such 'live' camera techniques as slow motion, focus-pulling, dollying, and tracking; infuse the soundtrack with a rich variety of background/foreground noise; and revel in simulating the effects of smoke, water, fire, wind, and speed. Most impressive is the way light sources (and their resulting shadows) are used, especially when they 'flare' into the lens. In fact, it's almost too much of a good thing. AKIRA is so consistently brilliant in its execution that it's hard to keep appreciating just how good it is. There are the inevitable dull spots - it's over two hours, after all - and some of the action sequences are never-ending, but it does manage to pull through at the end to deliver a huge-scale climax. If the finale doesn't seem as impressive as the opening ten minutes (which, like the rest of the film, deserve to be seen on the big screen for real impact) its only because we've seen enough of it already.

I like AKIRA more than other films of its ilk (see ten minutes of LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND and you've seen the whole movie) but it's distracting to see the characters speaking in American accents, and it gets on my nerves hearing the characters screaming each others names continuously. There are also too many lantern-jawed Pekingese-nosed he-men running around for my liking. Scenes of mass destruction/carnage aren't as disturbing as the moments of more personal one-on-one violence (we've seen Tokyo trashed on film too many times to get upset about it now), which makes it distinctly unsuitable for children. Not that they'd be able to keep up with the plot anyway, but then again, who can? This also may be the only cartoon with product placement - unless a new trend now catches on.


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